This poll, fielded May 6-12, 2009, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the presidency and the economy, whether they thought things in the country were on the right track, their rating of the national economy and whether they thought the economy would get better. Respondents were asked several questions about how the recession was affecting their personal lives including questions about the main way they were affected by the recession, how much the recession affected their children's lives and their communities, and whether they did any of the following things for their children in the previous six months as a result of the recession: applied for Medicaid, delayed visits to the dentist, doctor, or a specialist, reduced or not purchased medication, or cut back on extra-curricular activities. Respondents were also asked whether it had become easier or harder to pay for things such as groceries, medical bills, their children's tuition/schooling, housing costs, and utilities in the previous six months and whether they were concerned about H1N1 or the Swine Flu virus, Barack Obama's Supreme Court Justice nominations, health care insurance, how the federal government should use taxpayer's money, and job security. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, perceived social class, religious preference, whether the respondent considered themselves to be a born-again Christian, and voter registration status and participation history.

This poll, fielded March 20-22, 2009, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the presidency and issues such as the economy, the financial institutions bailout, insurance company AIG bonuses, and foreign policy. Views were sought on the condition of the national economy, and the level of confidence in Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner's handling of the financial crisis. Respondents were also asked their views on companies receiving federal bailout money, whether they approved of the federal government providing money to banks and other financial institutions, whether the media, President Obama, and Congress was spending to much time on the bonuses paid to AIG executives, and whether Congress was spending the right amount of time trying to solve the nation's economic problems. Several additional questions addressed AIG including whether AIG could have found a way not to pay bonuses to their executives, whether the federal government should try to recover the money used for bonuses, how many of the executives respondents thought would return the bonuses, and whether the federal government should give additional financial assistance to AIG if needed. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, and voter registration status and participation history.

This poll, fielded September 10-14, 2010, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, and the situation with Afghanistan. Respondents were also asked what they thought was the most important problem facing the country, whether they thought things in the country were going in the right direction, whether they approved of the way Congress as a whole and individual Democrats and Republicans in Congress were handling their jobs, whether they thought the economy was getting better and their rating of the economy. Opinions were sought on the Republican and Democratic Party, whether the Congressional representative from their district and members of Congress deserved to be re-elected, and whether they thought Republicans in Congress or Barack Obama had a clear plan for solving the nation's problems. Respondents were asked multiple questions about Barack Obama including whether he has made progress in fixing the economy, whether he has expanded the role of government too much in trying to solve the nation's economic problems, whether the Obama Administration had increased taxes for most Americans, and whether respondents thought he had a clear plan for creating jobs. Information was collected on whether respondents thought the country needed a third political party, whether they would rather have a smaller or bigger government, whether the Republicans or the Democrats had better ideas about solving the nation's problems, whether respondents approved of the health care law that was enacted the previous March, whether Congress should repeal this health care law, and who they thought was doing more, Barack Obama or the Republicans in Congress, to improved the economy. Respondents were asked whether they thought Arab Americans, Muslims, and immigrants from the Middle East were being singled out unfairly by people in the United States, whether respondents themselves had negative feelings towards Muslims because of the attack on the World Trade Center, and whether they knew anyone that was Muslim. Additional questions focused on Sarah Palin, the war in Iraq, personal finances, the war in Afghanistan, and the Tea Party movement. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, education level, household income, employment status, military service, religious preference, reported social class, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, and whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians.

This poll, fielded March 18-22, 2010, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way that Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, and health care, whether they approved of the way Congress was handling its job, and whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Respondents were queried on how closely they had been following the health care legislation being debated in Congress, whether they approved of health care reform, whether they thought that the health care reform bill would personally effect them, whether they understood the health care reform bill, and whether they thought that the health care bill would make health care better or worse in the next few years. Respondents were also asked whether they thought that the health care reform bill would make sure that health insurance companies would provide health coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions, help control the cost of health care premiums, and lead to too much government involvement in the health care system. Information was collected on whether respondents thought Congress spent too much time dealing with health care reform, whether they thought that Republicans and Democrats have been trying to pass or defeat the health care bill because it was good policy or mainly for political reasons, and whether they thought that the rules and procedures used in Congress to pass health care reform were fair or not. Respondents were also asked how they thought things were going for the United States in its efforts to bring stability and order to Iraq, how they thought things were going for the United States in the war in Afghanistan, and their views on abortion. Finally, respondents were asked whether they had some form of health insurance and whether they were covered by health insurance through an employer, a union, a personal plan, or through Medicare or Medicaid. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, and whether respondents thought of themselves as born again Christians.

This poll, fielded August 27-31, 2009, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the presidency, foreign policy, the situation in Afghanistan, health care, and the economy. Respondents were asked if they thought things in the country were on the right track, their rating of the national economy, and whether they thought the economy would get better. Respondents were also asked questions about the economic recession, including how long they thought it would last, the advisability of the federal government spending money to stimulate the national economy, whether it was acceptable to raise the deficit to create jobs and stimulate growth, and whether the federal budget deficit affected the respondent's family's financial situation. Several questions addressed health care, including whether respondents thought our health care system worked well, whether Medicare worked well, and whether the government would do a better job than private health care companies in keeping health care costs down and providing medical coverage. Respondents were also asked their opinions on the health insurance industry, whether they believed in the possibility of expanding health care coverage without increasing budget deficits or taxes on the middle class, whether Barack Obama or the Republicans in Congress had better ideas about reforming the health care system, and whether they understood the health care reforms Congress was considering. Information was collected on how respondents thought health care reforms under consideration in Congress would affect the middle class, senior citizens, small businesses, the respondent personally, their health care costs, and the quality of health care. Additional topics that were covered included the pullout of troops from Iraq, major credit cards, credit card debt, how the federal government should use taxpayer's money, how to handle the deficit, personal finances, the best way to discourage obesity, and job security. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, perceived social class, religious preference, and voter registration status and participation history.

This special topic poll is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. In this poll, fielded February 2-4, 2009, respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the presidency, foreign policy, the economy, and the campaign against terrorism. Opinions were collected about whether the country was going in the right direction, whether the condition of the economy was good, how long the recession would last, and what could be done to get the United States out of the recession. Respondents were asked their opinions of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Democrats in Congress, Republicans in Congress, and Congress as a whole. Several questions were asked about coal including questions that asked respondents whether they would approve of building plants that were powered by coal to generate electricity, whether it was a good idea to use coal to generate electricity, whether they thought doing so would contribute to global warming, whether they knew of any companies using technology to generate electricity from coal in a way that does not contribute to global warming, respondent's definition of "clean coal," and whether advertisements about "clean coal" technology had changed their opinion of whether it was possible to use coal to generate electricity in a way that was less likely to contribute to global warming. Other questions asked about the economic stimulus plan, how closely respondents had been following news about it, whether they approved of the federal government passing an economic stimulus bill, whether the bill would shorten the recession, and whether it was okay for the Democrats to pass the bill without the support of the Republicans in Congress. Additional topics addressed closing the United States prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, abortion, job security, global warming, the concept of "nature versus nurture," and where people obtain their sense of morality. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, religious preference, religious service attendance, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

This poll, fielded July 9-12, 2009, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the presidency, foreign policy, the situation in Iraq, health care and the economy, whether they thought things in the country were on the right track, their rating of the national economy and whether they thought the economy would get better. Respondents were also asked questions about the economic recession including how long they thought it would last, whether they believed the stimulus package made the economy better, whether the stimulus package would make the economy better in the future, whether the federal government should spend money to stimulate the national economy, whether it was acceptable to raise the deficit to create jobs and stimulate growth, and whether the federal budget deficit affected the respondent's family's financial situation. Several questions about health care were asked including whether President Obama would be able to bring about significant health care reform in his first term, whether respondents would favor government administered health insurance plans, and whether the respondent would consider public health care that anyone could join at any age. Opinions were sought about Sarah Palin, whether respondents heard about her resignation as Governor of Alaska, the reason she resigned, whether she would have the ability to be an effective president, whether the media was harder on her than other political figures, and whether respondents thought she would run for president in 2012. Other topics that were covered included, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, North Korea's development of weapons, Michael Jackson, the United States space program, marijuana, Barack Obama's Supreme Court Justice nominations, how the federal government should use taxpayer's money, how the deficit should be handled, personal finances, and job security. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, perceived social class, religious preference, whether the respondent considered themselves to be a born-again Christian, and voter registration status and participation history.

This poll, fielded January 14-17, 2010, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, foreign policy, the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, health care, the threat of terrorism, and the United States response to the earthquake in Haiti. Respondents were queried on whether they thought the economy was getting better or worse, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Democrats and Republicans in Congress, whether they were optimistic or pessimistic about the next three years with Obama as president, whether they thought that Obama had strong qualities of leadership, and whether they believe that Obama says what he believes most of the time, or says what he thinks people want to hear. Respondents were also asked whether they thought that Obama's policies have generally helped or hurt the economy, whether they thought Obama has brought real change to the way things are done in Washington, whether they thought the United States' image in the world has gotten better since Obama has been president, whether they thought that Obama would make the United States health care system better if the health care legislation passed, and whether they thought that Obama has done too much or too little for the nation's banks, financial institutions, auto industry, homeowners, the middle class, and small business owners. Information was collected on whether respondents thought that there would be a major earthquake in the United States in the next 20 years, whether the federal government was adequately prepared to deal with a major earthquake, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Tea Party movement, whether they approved of the way Joe Biden was handling his job as vice president, whether they approved of the way Michelle Obama was handling her role as first lady, whether they approved of the way that Hillary Clinton was handling her job as secretary of state, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Sarah Palin, and whether they would like to see Sarah Palin run for president in 2012. Respondents were asked whether they thought that the views of the people in the Tea Party movement generally reflect the views of most Americans, whether they thought that autism was a serious problem, how likely they thought it would be that in their lifetime there would be a cure for autism, whether they thought the housing market in their area would get better or worse in the next year, whether they currently rented their home, or bought it with a mortgage, or had their home entirely paid for. Finally respondents were asked how they felt about financial companies paying their employee bonuses after receiving bailout money from the government, whether they thought these bonuses were a major economic problem, who they thought benefited most from the bailout, whether they had enough income to save money or whether they had just enough to meet bills and obligations, and what social class they would say they belonged to. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, and voter registration status.