Behind the Numbers: Congress


Posted at 03:00 PM ET, 02/07/2012

Polling on pork
By Scott Clement
Polls show Americans hold overwhelmingly negative views of earmarks and pork barrel spending in general, but also want congressional dollars back in their district.

By Scott Clement  |  03:00 PM ET, 02/07/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Federal Budget Deficit | Tags:  Democratic Party

Posted at 03:05 PM ET, 01/25/2012

Poll watcher: Domestic policy prime in 2012
By Scott Clement
A slender 9 percent of Americans say President Obama should focus on foreign policy, while 81 percent prefer a domestic focus.

By Scott Clement  |  03:05 PM ET, 01/25/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Congress, Economy, GOP nomination, Republican Party, International polls | Tags:  Barack Obama, Congress, Economy, GOP Nomination, International Polls

Posted at 03:37 PM ET, 01/24/2012

Obama’s report card from the public
By Scott Clement
President Obama received a decidedly mixed report card in a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last week.

By Scott Clement  |  03:37 PM ET, 01/24/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Presidential Approval, Congress

Posted at 05:13 PM ET, 01/16/2012

Congress starts session more unpopular than ever
By Scott Clement
Congress kicks off its 2012 session about where it closed out 2011: with the worst approval ratings in decades.

By Scott Clement  |  05:13 PM ET, 01/16/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress

Posted at 03:08 PM ET, 12/15/2011

Debates far more level terrain than polls
By Jon Cohen
Do lower-tier Republican candidates have bias in debates to blame for their standing in the polls? A look at the data assembled by The Post’s graphics team says no, not really.

By Jon Cohen  |  03:08 PM ET, 12/15/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Federal Budget Deficit

Posted at 12:43 PM ET, 12/15/2011

Poll watcher: Most support keeping payroll tax cut
By Scott Clement
Fully 58 percent of Americans say Congress should vote to extend the temporary payroll tax deduction passed last year in an Associated Press-GfK poll.

By Scott Clement  |  12:43 PM ET, 12/15/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Federal Budget Deficit

Posted at 03:37 PM ET, 12/09/2011

Poll watcher: Fire Congress, but not my congressman
By Scott Clement
A record high 76 percent of Americans say most members of Congress don’t deserve to be re-elected.

By Scott Clement  |  03:37 PM ET, 12/09/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, 2012 polls

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 11/23/2011

Rally around Thanksgiving
By Jon Cohen
Almost all Americans, regardless of political affiliation, have favorable views of Thanksgiving dinner, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

By Jon Cohen  |  07:00 AM ET, 11/23/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  GOP nomination, Congress, Federal Budget Deficit

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 11/23/2011

Americans unfriend Congress
By Jon Cohen
Beyond its dismal approval ratings, Congress now has its lowest favorable rating in more than 25 years, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

By Jon Cohen  |  07:00 AM ET, 11/23/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  GOP nomination, Congress, Federal Budget Deficit

Posted at 03:33 PM ET, 11/22/2011

Poll watcher: Gingrich leads in GOP race, Americans predicted supercommittee failure
By Scott Clement
Three new national polls show former House Speaker Newt Gingrich either tied or holding a slight lead over Mitt Romney, and when pitted against each other, Gingrich holds a 10 percentage point edge.

By Scott Clement  |  03:33 PM ET, 11/22/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  GOP nomination, Congress, Federal Budget Deficit

Posted at 02:49 PM ET, 11/18/2011

Poll watcher: Is Gingrich competitive with Obama? Most want compromise on supercommittee
By Scott Clement
Newt Gingrich’s rise in the GOP nomination race begs a key question: How would he fare against the president?

By Scott Clement  |  02:49 PM ET, 11/18/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  2012 polls, GOP nomination, Federal Budget Deficit, Congress

Posted at 12:20 PM ET, 10/05/2011

Obama’s jobs plan, the partisan perspective
By Peyton M. Craighill
A slim majority supports the plan, nearly six in 10 believe it will improve things, nearly half trust him more on job creation than Republicans in Congress.

By Peyton M. Craighill  |  12:20 PM ET, 10/05/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Congress

Posted at 01:08 PM ET, 09/14/2011

Pollwatcher: Obama’s troubles on the economy, jobs and in California; new Virginia poll
By Peyton M. Craighill
A summary of daily polling.

By Peyton M. Craighill  |  01:08 PM ET, 09/14/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Economy, Virginia, Congress

Posted at 11:37 AM ET, 08/26/2011

Poll watchers: Anger at government peaks; GOP favors Perry; MLK popular in retrospect
By Scott Clement
More than a quarter of Americans are outright “angry” at the federal government, almost doubling from March and the highest in polls dating to 1997, according to a new poll.

By Scott Clement  |  11:37 AM ET, 08/26/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Barack Obama, Economy

Posted at 03:31 PM ET, 08/16/2011

Poll watchers: Bernanke who? Congress hits new lows (again) and love vs. science for women
By Scott Clement and Peyton Craighill
Few Americans hold strong feelings on the chairman or the Federal Reserve, and many are entirely unsure.

By Scott Clement and Peyton Craighill  |  03:31 PM ET, 08/16/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, GOP nomination

Posted at 03:21 PM ET, 08/10/2011

Economic confidence in Republicans and Obama drops sharply
By Scott Clement
Americans report markedly less confidence in President Obama and congressional Republicans to make the right decisions about the country’s economic future in a new poll.

By Scott Clement  |  03:21 PM ET, 08/10/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Congress, Economy

Posted at 02:12 PM ET, 07/29/2011

Poll: Tea party splits Republicans on debt debate
By Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement
Republican and GOP-leaning independents most strongly aligned with the tea party movement are more vehement than other Republicans in their views about the debt ceiling.

By Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement  |  02:12 PM ET, 07/29/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Federal Budget Deficit, Crosstabs

Posted at 01:27 PM ET, 07/28/2011

Poll Watchers: Obama vs. generic Republican, the deficit, rating congressional leaders, the GOP nomination and wine vs. beer
By Peyton M. Craighill
A summary of daily polling at The Washington Post.

By Peyton M. Craighill  |  01:27 PM ET, 07/28/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Federal Budget Deficit, GOP nomination, Tea party, 2012 polls

Posted at 09:08 AM ET, 07/26/2011

Poll: Obama, GOP share disapproval on job creation
By Peyton M. Craighill
More than eight in 10 Americans say jobs are hard to find in their communities, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.

By Peyton M. Craighill  |  09:08 AM ET, 07/26/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Congress

Posted at 01:35 PM ET, 07/13/2011

Poll watchers: Debt ceiling, Congress widely unpopular and more Bachmann
By Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement
Debt ceiling debate – By roughly 2 to 1 more Americans would want their member of Congress to vote against raising the debt ceiling, 42 to 22 percent in the latest Gallup poll. Still, a sizable 35 percent don’t know enough about the debate to offer an opinion.

By Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement  |  01:35 PM ET, 07/13/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Federal Budget Deficit, GOP nomination

Posted at 03:15 PM ET, 06/23/2011

Poll Watchers: Gas prices and the strategic oil reserve, Cantor and debt talks
By Scott Clement and Peyton Craighill
Strategic oil reserve – 75 percent say gas prices are an extremely or very important issue in a new Associated Press poll.

By Scott Clement and Peyton Craighill  |  03:15 PM ET, 06/23/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Federal Budget Deficit, Barack Obama, Congress

Posted at 01:35 PM ET, 05/31/2011

Poll Watchers: John Boehner, Mark Zuckerberg and Obama approval
By Scott Clement
A summary of daily polling.

By Scott Clement  |  01:35 PM ET, 05/31/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Congress, Presidential Approval

Posted at 10:42 AM ET, 05/25/2011

Poll: Republicans fear more debt, Democrats fear default
By Peyton M. Craighill
A new Post-Pew poll released Tuesday finds concerns about raising the debt limit running two ways.

By Peyton M. Craighill  |  10:42 AM ET, 05/25/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Economy, Federal Budget Deficit

Posted at 01:07 PM ET, 05/24/2011

Poll Watchers: New York special election, New Hampshire primary, gas prices
By Peyton M. Craighill
A summary of daily polling in New York’s special election and the New Hampshire primary.

By Peyton M. Craighill  |  01:07 PM ET, 05/24/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  GOP nomination, Congress

Posted at 10:57 AM ET, 04/11/2011

Poll Watchers: Budget debate fallout, Trump bump, Civil War continued and Mitt Romney
By Peyton M. Craighill
A daily round-up of national public opinion polling

By Peyton M. Craighill  |  10:57 AM ET, 04/11/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Federal Budget Deficit, 2012 polls, GOP nomination

Posted at 11:48 AM ET, 03/10/2011

Poll: Investigating radical American Muslims
By Peyton M. Craighill

By Peyton M. Craighill  |  11:48 AM ET, 03/10/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress

Posted at 09:37 AM ET, 03/01/2011

The politics of blame, shutdown edition
By Peyton M. Craighill
People say they would apportion blame about evenly between the Obama administration and the Republicans in the event of a government shutdown. Some 36 percent in a new Washington Post poll conducted with the Pew Research Center say they'd blame Republicans and 35 percent Obama, with 17 percent volunteering that they'd blame both.

By Peyton M. Craighill  |  09:37 AM ET, 03/01/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Federal Budget Deficit

Posted at 11:59 AM ET, 10/05/2010

Poll: two thirds haven't heard of Pledge to America
By Kyle Dropp
News of Republican congressional candidates' "Pledge to America" has not broken though, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Only about a third of Americans are familiar with the new GOP document; fully two-thirds express no knowledge of the conservative framework that proposes to reduce the size of government...

By Kyle Dropp  |  11:59 AM ET, 10/05/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Congress, Congress, Congress | Tags:  Congress, election 2010, gingrich, midterms, pledge to ameica, republicans

Posted at 09:23 AM ET, 04/28/2010

A 20-point tilt toward the challengers
By Jennifer Agiesta
The new Washington Post-ABC News poll found the public in a decidedly anti-incumbent mood, the likes of which has not been seen since the early-1990s. Six times in Post-ABC polling - including the most recent poll - the share of registered voters who say they are "inclined to look around...

By Jennifer Agiesta  |  09:23 AM ET, 04/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Congress

Posted at 12:28 PM ET, 03/17/2010

The public on procedure
By Jennifer Agiesta
With Democratic lawmakers working toward using reconciliation to pass health care reform legislation, a number of recent polls suggest the public's take on parliamentary procedure is based more on the result than the process. Partisans' views on the inner-workings of Congress vary based on whether the procedures would work to...

By Jennifer Agiesta  |  12:28 PM ET, 03/17/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Congress

Posted at 12:44 PM ET, 03/25/2009

Contradictory Pennsylvania Senate Results All in the Technique
By Jennifer Agiesta
Two new polls out today show Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter may or may not be leading his 2004 primary opponent Pat Toomey, should Toomey return for a rematch. A Quinnipiac University poll out this morning says Toomey has the edge over Specter, 41 percent to 27 percent, with 28...

By Jennifer Agiesta  |  12:44 PM ET, 03/25/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Congress, Congress