Author: Scott Rasmussen

One of the sure signs that political activists have too much time on their hands is all the chatter about who will win the 2016 presidential nominations. The conventional wisdom seems to be that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a lock on the Democratic nomination and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is the […]

It’s no secret that both political parties are struggling to connect with voters. Strategists dream up marketing plans to increase their party’s appeal to this constituency or that group. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t. But they never establish a deep and lasting connection with voters. That’s because most of what the parties talk […]

Sixty-four percent of Americans say that it’s possible to have an honest discussion about race in America. I would like to believe that, but I am skeptical. My skepticism is rooted in a painful recognition of the fact that white and black America have different histories and different experiences with our justice system. Consider the […]

As Americans, we tend to believe we have the right to do whatever we want, so long as it doesn’t interfere with the rights of others. But sometimes the lines get a little blurry. For example, what happens if the owner of a bar in a college town wants to avoid some of the problems […]

Our nation’s 237th birthday is being celebrated in many ways that have become familiar over the years. Fifteen percent of Americans will watch a parade; 29 percent will sing patriotic songs; 63 percent will enjoy a cookout with family and friends; 78 percent are likely to see fireworks. Sixty-one percent consider Independence Day one of […]

On Dec. 1, 1955, a churchgoing woman of character refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala. Many credit Rosa Parks’ courageous action that day with launching the civil rights movement. While I have great respect for what Ms. Parks did that day, however, she did not start the civil rights […]

While recognizing that it’s important to fight terrorism with all of the tools at our disposal, the American people are having a hard time finding good guys in the story about the National Security Agency’s surveillance program. There are legitimate concerns about the sweeping nature of the surveillance effort. Two out of three voters believe […]

Another week, another controversy in official Washington. At the moment, 35 percent of voters consider recently exposed National Security Agency surveillance efforts as the most serious. The Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservatives is No. 2 on the list, followed by concerns about the Obama administration’s handling of the incident in Benghazi last fall in […]

Many pundits assumed that this would be the year that comprehensive immigration reform became law. The conventional wisdom was that President Obama’s re-election and his strong showing among Hispanic voters would force Republicans to go along. Now, halfway through the year, the prospects for immigration reform have dimmed significantly. Americans overwhelmingly feel that legal immigration […]

Most stories about the president’s health care law these days are about the challenges of implementation and the complexity of setting up exchanges. But that’s not where the action is. What’s more important is that insurance companies, benefits consultants and others are actually reading the 2,000-page law to see what it says. Perhaps the biggest […]

Despite a tough couple of weeks, President Obama’s job approval ratings are holding up fairly well. As I write this, 47 percent of voters nationwide offer their approval. That’s little changed from attitudes of late and essentially the same as the president enjoyed during most of his first term in office. But if you dig […]

It’s impossible to predict the lasting impact of the controversies now besetting the Obama administration, but the risks to the president’s agenda are sizable. On the legislative front, they could doom the already cloudy prospects for comprehensive immigration reform. The implementation of President Obama’s health care law is also likely to be a bit more […]

Foreign policy matters rarely top the list of voter concerns. That’s especially true in times of challenging economic news. In recent weeks, though, national security topics have been working their way into the headlines. First came the Boston Marathon bombings and questions about terrorist connections. The civil war in Syria entered the news with reports […]

Mitt Romney’s secretly recorded comment that 47 percent of Americans are “dependent on the government” and “believe they are victims” isn’t the only reason he lost the presidential campaign. But the candidate himself acknowledged after the election that the comments were “very harmful.” He added, “What I said is not what I believe.” But many […]

Gun control advocates sound puzzled by congressional resistance to relatively modest gun control legislation. Many cite a poll showing 90 percent of Americans support more background checks and suggest the National Rifle Association is the only reason Congress won’t implement the will of the people. There are a few problems with this argument. First, it […]

Sixty-eight percent of voters believe that, when done legally, immigration is good for America. Most voters for years have favored a welcoming policy of immigration. Unlike many issues these days, there is virtually no partisan disagreement. These facts raise a question that should make everyone in official Washington uncomfortable. If immigration is good for America […]

Americans have a healthy respect for free market competition and are resistant to government interference — even when they don’t like what the market is up to. For example, 69 percent of Americans believe that large corporate executives are overpaid, but only 17 percent want the government to regulate their pay. In that context, it’s […]

James Carville famously kept the 1992 Clinton campaign on message with the simple refrain, “It’s the economy, stupid!” That’s just as true for politicians today as it was two decades ago. However, many politicians, particularly Republicans, tend to misunderstand all that Carville’s phrase encompasses. It’s not just about economic growth. Fairness is a big part […]

President Obama handily defeated congressional Republicans in the political fight over his health care law. But the law will now face a much tougher opponent — the creativity of Americans determined to gain more control over their own health care decisions. The end result will be a system much different than the president hopes for […]

To borrow a phrase, Mainstream America and Washington’s Political Class have become two nations separated by a common language. This gap was highlighted by a recent Pew Research Center poll showing that “for 18 of 19 programs tested, majorities want either to increase spending or maintain it at current levels.” On the surface, those results […]

There’s a panic bubbling to the surface in Washington, D.C. It’s being brought about by the so-called sequester, scheduled to take effect next Friday, March 1. The sequester, a series of automatic across-the-board spending reductions, is a gimmick the politicians came up with in 2011 to force themselves to reach some kind of long-term deficit […]

There’s still a lot of confusion in the Republican Party in the aftermath of the 2012 election. Part of the confusion stems from the struggle between the party establishment based in Washington and the party’s base of voters all over the country. Sixty-three percent of Republican voters nationwide recognize that their leaders in Washington have […]

As President Obama prepares for his State of the Union address, he has indicated that gun control and immigration will be two of his top priorities. His administration’s actions also indicate an ongoing commitment to place a high priority on environmental concerns. These items, though, tend to rank fairly low on voter lists of priorities. […]

A bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators has proposed an immigration reform plan that appears to broadly reflect what voters would like to see. But there’s a catch. Most Americans (56 percent) want our nation to have a welcoming policy of legal immigration. With such an approach, the only people who would be excluded are […]

President Obama in his inaugural address made it clear he intends to protect the nation’s entitlement programs. In the world of Washington politics, this amounts to a pledge that the president will make sure that no changes will be made to programs like Social Security and Medicare. Republicans in Congress won’t challenge him because just […]

Following the school shooting horror in Newtown, Conn., our nation shares a heartfelt belief that something must be done. Polls instantly showed an increase in support for stricter gun control laws. Fifty-one percent of American adults expressed that view in Rasmussen Reports polling. But there is even more support (81 percent) for taking action on […]

Official Washington hailed the deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff as a significant bipartisan accomplishment. However, voters around the country viewed the deal in very partisan terms: Seven out of 10 Democrats approved of it, while seven out of 10 Republicans disapproved. Just a few days after reaching that agreement, an inside-the-Beltway publication reported […]