The Numbers

Sarah Palin: Up Among Republicans?

Gary Langer — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:04:19 -0400

Data analysis can be a subjective thing; so it is with today’s USA Today and Gallup coverage of their joint poll on Sarah Palin. USA Today’s p.1 piece says Palin’s resignation “actually has boosted her a bit among Republicans.” Gallup’s...

In Iraq, Progress - and Problems

Gary Langer — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:04:49 -0400

Tomorrow's deadline for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraqi cities and towns is likely to be met there with a combination of delight – and apprehension. Most Iraqis never have appreciated the presence of U.S. troops on their soil; not...

Mark Sanford and the Affairs of State

Gary Langer — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:34:27 -0400

Mark Sanford’s behavior is, shall we say, not helpful politically – particularly in the base. The overview is not pretty at all: In a Gallup poll just last month, 92 percent of Americans said it was “morally wrong” for a...

Iran's Election: The Odds of Fraud

Gary Langer — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:36:15 -0400

An outfit called Terror Free Tomorrow claims in an op-ed in today’s Washington Post that the contested Iranian elections likely were not fraudulent, since a pre-election poll it sponsored showed the declared winner, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with a big lead. TFT’s...

Affirmative Action: Words Matter

Gary Langer — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:39:15 -0400

Do you generally favor or oppose affirmative action programs for racial and ethnic minorities? Let me put that another way: Do you think affirmative action programs that give preferences to blacks and other minorities in hiring, promotions and college admissions...

Hold on Groves: Mystery Hour at the Senate

Gary Langer — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:01:21 -0400

Three weeks after Robert M. Groves sailed through his confirmation hearing to lead the U.S. Census Bureau, a Republican U.S. senator has placed the nomination on hold. As for who and why, it’s Mystery Hour at the U.S. Senate. A...

"Medical Bankruptcies:" a Data Update

Gary Langer — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:08:53 -0400

The academic group that put out a much-covered and deservedly much-debated study on so-called "medical bankruptcies" a few years ago has released an update today. In some important ways it improves on the earlier version, which I’ve blogged about before....

Obama and the Muslim World

Gary Langer — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:56:18 -0400

Ahead of President Obama’s speech tomorrow in Cairo, views of the United States in the Muslim world can best be described as better, but far from good. And views the other way – Americans’ attitudes about Islam – have their...

What We Don't Know About China

Gary Langer — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:11:50 -0400

What’s most interesting about public opinion in China, 20 years after Tiananmen Square, is what’s not asked there. Think about, say, confidence in the national government, elections, the military and the judicial system; views of national leaders; or satisfaction with...

Sotomayor and Hispanic Judges: Doing the Math

Gary Langer — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:37:44 -0400

Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been getting heat from critics for her comment in a 2001 speech saying she’d hope “a wise Latina woman… would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that...