If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

Political Commentary

Most Recent Releases

White letter R on blue background
September 19, 2009

B.A. in Anchorage By Susan Estrich

I got a very nice e-mail from B.A. in Anchorage yesterday. Actually, it wasn't very nice. She (I think it's a she, but I don't know for sure) thinks I'm completely clueless and worse. But that's OK. She doesn't think I should be killed or strung up because I disagree with her. Reading the e-mail wasn't so scary that I had to forward it to the campus police and wonder why I bother. As far as I could tell, B.A. was actually trying to have a civil conversation with me about why she thought I was wrong.

White letter R on blue background
September 18, 2009

The Presidential Jinx By Larry J. Sabato

It was nearly twenty years ago. While assessing L. Douglas Wilder's 1989 victory for governor of Virginia, I first noticed that for four consecutive elections (1977, 1981, 1985, and 1989), the Old Dominion had voted for the gubernatorial nominee of the party opposite to the one controlling the White House. It merited a paragraph, but nothing more.

White letter R on blue background
September 18, 2009

What Americans Really Want Is Health Care Reform By Froma Harrop

"Obama's Speech Doesn't Turn the Tide," reads an ABC News headline about new poll results on public reaction to the president's address on health care reform. An interesting take, given that the tide doesn't need turning.

White letter R on blue background
September 18, 2009

Job-Killing Policies Could Doom Democrat Hopes By Michael Barone

"The level of unemployment is unacceptably high. And will, by all forecasts, remain unacceptably high for a number of years."

White letter R on blue background
September 17, 2009

Consumers Can Read The Writing On the Wall, Why Can't Government? By Howard Rich

Over the last three decades, American consumers have demonstrated precious little in the way of fiscal responsibility. Rather than adopting a motto of "spend only what you earn" and carrying on the frugality of previous generations, we've witnessed the dawning of an "age of credit." Little plastic cards have promised (and delivered) instant gratification to tens of millions of consumers - only to hit them later with double-digit interest rates, "fine print" which ruins their legitimate borrowing potential and condemns many to a downward cycle of debt and despair.

White letter R on blue background
September 17, 2009

Joe Wilson's Dixie Partisans By Joe Conason

The stupid misconduct of entertainer Kanye West and politician Joe Wilson demonstrated, if any fresh proof is necessary, that thoughtless rudeness isn't confined by ethnicity, ideology or background. With their highly public episodes of misconduct, both earned sharp public censure.

White letter R on blue background
September 17, 2009

Inside the Glorious Nation of ACORN By Debra J. Saunders

I would not go see the film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" because I found more cruelty than humor in deliberately exposing unwitting civilians to the easy ridicule of smug sophomores.

White letter R on blue background
September 16, 2009

Enough Is Enough By Susan Estrich

Conservative loudmouths are crowing that they are driving Barack Obama's popularity ratings below 50 percent. They are very proud of themselves. They shouldn't be. Destroying what is best about our country is not something to brag to your children about.

White letter R on blue background
September 16, 2009

Administration Downsizes Our Diplomatic Muscle By Tony Blankley

With one-sixth of the Obama administration's term of office complete, last week it revealed its profound commitment to an unprecedented policy of eschewing the exercise of great-power diplomacy -- and indeed of being willing to consciously accept humiliation -- in the hope of gaining future advantage from talking with hostile but weaker nations.

White letter R on blue background
September 15, 2009

At Least Spanky Had Grace To Leave Quietly By Debra J. Saunders

Will the sex scandal of former GOP Assemblyman Mike Duvall make a difference for the California GOP? In that Duvall -- now known as Spanky -- had the good sense to resign 15 hours into the scandal, the answer would be: No.

White letter R on blue background
September 15, 2009

'Heads I Win, Tails I'm Bailed Out' By Froma Harrop

President Obama was on Wall Street, calling for a new regulatory regime to prevent a financial panic like the one set off a year ago. "We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess that was at the heart of this crisis," he said.

White letter R on blue background
September 14, 2009

Tom Friedman Hails China's One-Party Autocracy By Michael Barone

The dwindling number of readers of The New York Times were treated Wednesday to a column by Thomas Friedman extolling China's "one-party autocracy," which, he told us, "is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people."

White letter R on blue background
September 13, 2009

Character and Care By Debra J. Saunders

Toward the end of his speech on health care Wednesday night, President Obama said that he had been thinking a lot about the phrase "the character of our country."

White letter R on blue background
September 11, 2009

Is the GOP On the Cusp of Another 1994? By Isaac T. Wood

All sound electoral predictions are grounded in history. Astute observers look back over the electoral landscape of the past and pick the bits and pieces of past years that match the conditions of the present.

White letter R on blue background
September 11, 2009

The Government-Insurance Option Is Dead By Lawrence Kudlow

The day after President Obama's impassioned speech for big-government health care, Wall Street bet heavily that the so-called government-insurance option he supports is dead.

White letter R on blue background
September 11, 2009

GOP Revival for 2010 House? By Isaac T. Wood and Larry J. Sabato

While the next slate of House elections does not occur until 2010, congressmen and their challengers certainly don't take off the "off-year." Instead, this year is a crucial one for the parties who must prove their recruiting chops, for the incumbents who seek big fundraising numbers and positive headlines, and for the challengers who have to prove their ability to take down a sitting member of Congress. And that doesn't even include the open races, 18 so far, where incumbents have announced they will not seek reelection. In those districts, both parties are scrambling to find candidates who can quash takeover hopes or, conversely, take advantage of this rare opportunity.

White letter R on blue background
September 10, 2009

Van Jones Meets America By Debra J. Saunders

One of the (many) irritating things about being a Republican in the liberal Bay Area is the certainty that if there is a story out there that makes conservatives look stupid -- like the protests against President Obama's Tuesday speech to America's students -- then you know that wherever you go, folks are going to ask you about that particular flap.

White letter R on blue background
September 10, 2009

A Perfect Storm of Idiocy By Joe Conason

The wild furor over President Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren raises many questions, but there is only one that really matters. How did America surrender its political discourse -- not to mention the news cycle -- to the most unreasonable and unstable elements of the far right?

White letter R on blue background
September 10, 2009

The Convenient Fantasies of President Obama By Michael Barone

The resignation over the Labor Day weekend of White House "green jobs" czar Van Jones tells you some interesting things about the Obama administration.

White letter R on blue background
September 9, 2009

Respect and Responsibility By Susan Estrich

The gifted woman who headed my children's elementary school, Reveta Bowers, always said that teaching kids values was as important as teaching them skills.

Daily Presidential
Tracking Poll

President Biden's approval numbers posted every weekday

Top Stories

  1. Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
  2. Biden Approval Declines Again in June
  3. Happy Independence Day!
  4. ABC News: 'Answer Our Questions -- Or Else!'