Institutions of Democracy

For years political consultants have argued that late-night comedy shows play a central role in defining presidents and presidential candidates for the American public, but the biggest audience for those programs comes from those least likely to vote – Americans 18 to 29, the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey shows. Interviews with 26,491

Nine percent of Americans think they paid less in federal taxes this month because of President Bush’s tax cuts. But only a handful of them, one percent of the public, is a persuadable voter who is not yet firmly committed to either Bush or Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts in the presidential election, the

Most Americans, including those who have guns in their homes, want to see the ten-year-old ban on assault weapons extended. And even though the National Rifle Association’s leadership is intensely opposed to renewal, about half of those with an NRA member in their household support continuing the ban, the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election

The public agrees with President Bush that American troops should be kept in Iraq until a stable government is established, but does not think he has a clear plan for achieving success there, the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey shows. Moreover, majorities now think the situation in Iraq was not worth going to

Americans consider President Bush steadier, a stronger leader, more likeable and less likely to bow to political pressure than Senator John F. Kerry. But they consider Kerry more knowledgeable than Bush and less reckless or stubborn, too, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey. In polling conducted between March 21 and April

The first salvos of Bush and Kerry television advertisements appears to have produced few important changes in public attitudes toward the two candidates, the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey shows. A comparison of national public attitudes toward the two candidates in the first half of March with those in the second half, shows

Ralph Nader, whose independent candidacy worries Democrats who think he cost them the White House in 2000, has become distinctly unpopular with the American public which held a balanced view of him four years ago, the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey shows. In 2000, Annenberg polling showed that 24 percent of the public

Far from putting the disputed 2000 election behind them, 69 percent of Democrats say Al Gore really won it but was “somehow cheated” out of the White House, and that group provides a core of intense support for Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey shows. That sense

If Democrats keep running against Herbert Hoover, as they have on and off since 1932, they may have to invest in a substantial educational campaign to make it clear that they are not talking about a former FBI director, a dam on the Colorado river, or vacuum cleaners. Democratic candidates and interest groups frequently charge