CBS News/New York Times Monthly Poll #4, October 2010 (ICPSR 33183)

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This poll, fielded October 21-26, 2010, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. A national sample, with an oversample of African Americans were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president and the economy, whether they felt the country was going in the right direction, whether they approved of the way Congress was handling its job, how they would rate the condition of the national economy, and whether they thought the economy was getting better or worse. Respondents were queried on how likely it was that they would vote in the 2010 election for United States Congress, how much attention they have been paying to the 2010 election campaign, which candidate they would vote for, how enthusiastic they were about voting in the congressional elections, whether they thought their representative in Congress had performed their job well enough to deserve re-election, and whether they were willing to vote for someone from a different political party other than their own. Information was collected on how optimistic or pessimistic respondents were about the next two years with Obama as president, how often they thought they could trust the government in Washington to do what is right, whether they preferred a smaller government with fewer services or a bigger government with more services, how important it was to them to reduce government spending, and whether they thought the economic downturn was temporary and would eventually fully recover or it is part of a long-term permanent decline that would never fully recover. Respondents were asked who they thought deserved the most blame for the current state of the economy, whether they had a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and John Boehner, whether they thought Obama had a clear plan for creating jobs, and how much progress they thought Obama had made in making health care affordable for all Americans, improving the economy, and ending the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Respondents were queried on whether they thought the media was harder on Obama than other presidents, which party they thought was more likely to improve the health care system, create new jobs, and reduce the federal budget deficit, whether they thought it was a good idea to let the tax cuts passed in 2001 expire for households earning over $250,000 a year, whether they thought Congress should repeal the health care law, and whether they favored or opposed raising the age to receive social security benefits if it were necessary in order to continue paying benefits. Respondents were asked whether they have heard of the Republican "Pledge to America", whether they thought Republicans would repeal the health care law if they were to win control of the United States House of Representatives, whether they would try to make permanent tax cuts on households earning $250,000 a year or more, whether they thought Obama, the Democrats and the Republicans in Congress should compromise on some of their positions in order to get things done, whether they had a favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement, what their impression was on how the war in Afghanistan was going, whether they thought race relations in the United States are generally good or bad, and whether they favored or opposed allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Finally, respondents were asked how important it was to them to limit the amount of money election campaigns can spend, how important it was to them that campaigns be required by law to disclose how much money they have raised and from whom the money came from, whether their family's financial situation was better today than it was two years ago, whether they were concerned that they or someone in their household might be out of work in the next year, whether they were concerned about losing their home in the next year, whether they voted in the 2008 presidential election and the 2006 United States House of Representatives election, whether they were a supporter of the Tea Party movement, and how long they have lived at their current residence. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, social class, employment status, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, and whether respondents thought of themselves as born again Christians.

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