We are now less than 2 weeks away from when Americans go to the polls. As we approach November 6th, an already heated battle will get even more heated. We can expect a number of four letter words to be used by the presidential candidates in the coming days, such ...
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In deciding between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, we hope that voters are choosing between candidates based in part on candidates’ policy stances, such as their positions on taxes and war. In a book I have coming out this month, Follow the Leader (press release), I find surprisingly little evidence ...
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There are two versions of what has happened in the past three weeks in the battle to be US President. One is the version told by most nationwide polls and accepted by the media; the second, told by a minority of nationwide polls, including YouGov, and most polls in the ...
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With so much of this year’s campaign focusing on taxes and tax policy, it might seem unlikely that prospective voters could still be swayed by learning a basic fact about the U.S. tax system. However, last week’s YouGov survey found that 44% don’t know it—and that they are 6 points ...
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Under the budget proposed by Paul Ryan, federal spending on everything other than Medicare and Social Security would decline over the next 20 years … (a) from 22% of GDP to 18.5% of GDP (b) from 22% of GDP to 14.5% of GDP (c) from 14.5% of GDP to 11.5% ...
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I've already noted that, in the wake of last week's presidential debate, voters' perceptions of Romney and Obama's ideologies didn't change much, despite Romney's much ballyhooed pivot to the center. Now, I will show what did change: the impressions voters had of Obama and Romney as people. YouGov polls have ...
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Perhaps you've heard about Romney's pivot to the center in last week's debate -- what it means, whether it will work, how Obama is responding, etc. Yesterday, Bill Clinton described his reaction to Romney's performance thusly: "Wow, here's old moderate Mitt. Where ya been, boy?" New survey data suggests that ...
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When Mitt Romney’s 47% comments came to light, many were surprised that Romney’s claim that 47% of households do not pay income taxes is, in fact, true. To many people, this is outrageous. Why should they be paying the federal taxes they do while so many fellow citizens get a ...
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Over the course of this year, I have been following the “Birther” controversy. Barack Obama continues to be plagued by rumors that he is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and, as a result, is not eligible to serve as president. These rumors have shown surprising resilience among ...
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Throughout the year, I have been tracking beliefs about President Obama’s citizenship (see here and here). From September 15-17, 2012, YouGov again surveyed 1000 Americans and asked whether “Barack Obama was born in the United States of America.” In the table below, I present these results, alongside the polls that I ...
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