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Michelle Obama: Bragging Rights

(Thursday update: Here's an additional data point worth noting given Mrs. Obama's tumultuous welcome today at a London event where she spoke on female empowerment: Her overall popularity is similar among women and men - 79 and 73 percent, respectively,...

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March 31, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (30)

NH Meltdown: The Report is In

The American Association for Public Opinion Research today released an exhaustive report on the 2008 presidential primary polls, focusing to a large degree on the pre-primary polling meltdown in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. AAPOR’s news release says its investigators...

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March 30, 2009 in 2008 Primaries, Problem Polls | Permalink | User Comments (1)

Wagoner: Under the Bus

(Updated at noon with new data - see italics below.) The Obama administration's move to set strict guidelines for further aid to U.S. automakers - and to throw G.M. chief Rick Wagoner under the bus - makes great sense in...

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March 30, 2009 in Economy | Permalink | User Comments (11)

Afghanistan: An Opinion Review

Given President Obama's announcement today of new Afghanistan policy, here's a review of public opinion on the conflict from both sides of the world (2:45 p.m. update at end): DOMESTIC: The president's policy review comes at a dicey time for...

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March 27, 2009 in International Polls | Permalink | User Comments (10)

Stem-Cell Support

The president’s found another way not to endear himself to conservative Republicans - underscoring how difficult it is in practice to reach across the country's political divides. ABC’s Jake Tapper, Brian Hartman and Lisa Stark report that President Obama on...

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March 6, 2009 in Social Issues | Permalink | User Comments (55)

Confidence to the Rescue? Don't Hold Your Breath.

With unemployment soaring to 8.1 percent in today’s Labor Department report, it's fair to wonder when consumer confidence finally will lead the economy to recovery. The answer: Maybe never. Not that the economy won't recover; just that confidence may well...

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March 6, 2009 in Economy | Permalink | User Comments (79)

Medical Bankruptcies: A Data-Check

(3 p.m. update: See italicized items with responses from the lead author of the Harvard study, Dr. David Himmelstein.) President Obama’s kicking off his health care reform today in the worst possible way: with a mischaracterization of data. “The cost...

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March 5, 2009 in Problem Polls | Permalink | User Comments (350)

Sleep Survey: A Recurring Nightmare

A foundation funded by the nation’s sleep industry today released its latest survey finding that – ta daa! – we’re not getting enough sleep. Too bad we can't just snooze through it. Because as survey research, this one’s a recurring...

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March 2, 2009 in Problem Polls | Permalink | User Comments (1)