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By Gary Langer Oct 3, 2011 2:30pm Majority Expects Obama to Lose Re-election A majority of Americans expect Barack Obama to be a one-term president, an assessment on which, in past elections, the public more often has been right than wrong. Just 37 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say they expect Obama to win re-election in November 2012; 55 percent instead expect the eventual Republican nominee to win. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos is asking the president about that result in an interview today. It’s a challenging finding for the president because expectations can fuel voter enthusiasm – precisely...

Herman Cain did well in last week’s GOP debate and won a decisive straw poll victory in Florida, but his numbers in a general election match-up against President Obama are little changed. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds that Obama earns 39% support while Cain attracts 34%. In that match-up, 14% prefer some other candidate, and 14% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) A month ago, the president led Cain by seven percentage points. In March Obama held an 18 point advantage over the businessman and talk show host. Data released...

A CNN/ORC poll released today shows the approval rating for the tea party movement at its lowest point since polling began in 2010. The conservative/libertarian movement is viewed favorably by just 28 percent of Americans — down from its all time high of 38 percent last November — while 53 percent have a negative opinion of it, also a record. Conversely, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's approval rating is at an all-time high — even better than when she was the nation's First Lady — with 69 percent of Americans holding a favorable view of her, compared to 26 percent...

The percentage of American men saying they approve of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president hit an all-time low of 36 percent in the Gallup poll last week. That is down from a peak of 64 percent approval among men that Obama received in the seven-day period that ended on Jan. 25, 2009, the week he was inaugurated. After his first week in office, Obama’s approval among men as measured by the Gallup poll never again matched that 64-percent peak. Obama’s approval among men first dropped below 50 percent in the last week of August 2009....

Gallup released a poll showing that, for the first time, a majority of Americans blame President Obama for the country's ongoing economic struggles, including 60% of independents. 53% of Americans think Obama deserves either a "great deal" or a "moderate amount" of blame for the economy. The numbers here might actually be worse for Obama than they appear. As Gallup notes, Obama's reelection bid depends on his ability to convince independents that he saved the economy from further catastrophe. But Gallup also reports that President Bush's negative numbers remain as high as they are "because Republicans are more willing to...

More registered voters say they would definitely vote for Mitt Romney or might consider doing so (62%) than say the same about his two main rivals in the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama (54%) and Republican Rick Perry (53%). Though Romney currently receives the highest level of consideration among voters, more say they would "definitely vote for" Obama (33%) than say this about either Romney (21%) or Perry (20%). That may reflect the virtual certainty that Obama will be the Democratic candidate for president, while Republicans' loyalties are divided between their two leading contenders. That dynamic is apparent in...

African Americans appear to be cooling their support for President Obama, with “strongly favorable” views of the president dropping dramatically from 83 percent five months ago to 58 percent today, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows. The drop in support among black voters mirrors the declining support for Obama among all groups.

Pundits dismissed the president’s jobs and deficit reduction proposals as political grandstanding, but the American people appear to approve of many of the president’s ideas, according to a Gallup poll released today.The survey of 1,004 adults — only about 44 percent of whom were Republicans or Republican-leaning independents — showed significant majorities support a majority of the individual components of the president’s plan.For example, 70 percent favor increasing taxes on some corporations by eliminating certain tax deductions and 66 percent favor increasing income taxes on individuals earning at least $200,000 and families earning at least $250,000.The first part of that...

President Barack Obama faces a litany of bad news. The president’s job approval rating, his favorability, and his rating on the economy have hit all-time lows. To compound matters, three in four Americans still believe the nation is in a recession and the proportion who thinks the country is moving in the wrong direction is at its highest point in more than a decade. President Barack Obama According to this McClatchy-Marist Poll, the president’s approval rating is at 39% among registered voters nationally, an all-time low for Mr. Obama. For the first time a majority — 52% — disapproves of...

A CBS News/New York Times poll taken from September 10th-15th (both before and after the most recent debate) shows Rick Perry with a 7-point edge (23 to 16 percent) over Mitt Romney among registered voters who intend to vote in a Republican primary or caucus. Among the roughly half (49 percent) of Republican primary voters "who support the Tea Party movement," Perry has by far the highest net favorability rating (+53 percent), Of note, Sarah Palin's net favorability rating is only +12 percent among Tea Party-supporting Republicans.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) may be upset with Boeing’s plan to operate a non-union plant in South Carolina, but most Americans think it should be allowed to. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone poll finds that 64% think Boeing has the right to open the plant in South Carolina while just 21% disagree. When respondents are told that the NLRB believes that opening the plant is an act of retaliation against the union, the numbers barely move. Only 17% think the agency has the right to prevent Boeing from opening the new facility while 64% disagree. The House...

Before he entered his first debate as a presidential candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry was the Republican frontrunner and held a modest lead in a hypothetical matchup against President Obama. Perry was the target for all the other candidates in the two most recent GOP debates, however, and he now trails the president by single digits. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters shows Obama picking up 46% of the vote, while Perry earns support from 39%. Fifteen percent (15%) are either undecided or prefer another candidate. Two weeks ago, Perry was up by three. Three...

Gallup tracks daily the percentage of Americans who approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president. Results are based on telephone interviews with approximately 1,500 national adults; Margin of error is ±3 percentage points.

<p>RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — President Barack Obama's disapproval rating has soared to 54 percent in Virginia, a battleground state the Democrat took from the Republicans to win the White House in 2008 and will likely need to carry next year to win re-election, a new poll released Thursday shows.</p>

Most voters nationwide continue to believe government policies encourage illegal immigration and support using the military along the U.S.-Mexican border. But they remain divided as to whether the federal government or individual states should enforce immigration laws. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that 59% believe the policies and practices of the federal government encourage illegal immigration. Just 23% disagree while another 18% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.) The number of voters who believe the federal government's policies encourage people to enter the country illegally is virtually unchanged from May...

CNN Poll: President gets no bounce from speech, but disapproval rating peaks mug.cnnpolitics By: CNN Political Unit Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama didn't score any political points with his speech on jobs to a joint session of Congress last Thursday. According to a new CNN/ORC International poll released Tuesday, the president's approval rating stands at 43 percent, virtually unchanged from the 45 percent approval rating in the previous CNN poll. Although this is not the lowest number of those who say they approve of how Obama is handling his job-he reached 42 percent one year ago-the number who disapprove...

The most dangerous Muslims in America may be black converts to Islam, according to a shocking new poll by the Pew Research Center. African-American Muslims tend to hold the most violent views among U.S. Muslims surveyed by Pew in a poll released this week. Fully 28 percent of U.S.-born black Muslim respondents said "suicide bombings and other violence against civilians" can be justified sometimes or at least in rare cases. That compares with 9 percent of foreign-born Muslims who hold the same view. Pew also found that 11 percent of black Muslims living in the U.S. have a favorable opinion...

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that only 11% favor a proposal for the federal government to provide every single American with a basic income grant, or enough money to enjoy a modest living regardless of whether they choose to work or not. Eighty-two percent (82%) oppose this idea. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

One animating theme of Barack Obama's campaign and early Presidency was that he would repair government's post-Reagan reputation, expanding its role in American life so voters would turn once again to Democrats as the party of government, as they did in 1964 and the 1930s. So how's that working out? Not so well, judging by a remarkable Gallup poll this week that asked the public about its views of government and various businesses. The federal government dropped to its lowest approval levels ever. Only 17% were positive, 63% negative, for a net approval rating of minus-46%. Government never ranks well,...

Americans overall tend to trust governments closer to home rather than the federal government and worry that the team in DC has too much influence over state governments. However, Democrats and those who are politically liberal take an entirely different view. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 50% of Likely Voters believe the federal government has too much influence over state governments. Just 11% think the federal government does not have enough influence while 26% believe the balance is about right. Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.) On the question...