Four years into the Iraq war, most Americans say they have little or no confidence in the information they receive -- from either the military or the media -- about how things are going on the ground.

Surveys taken before the Virginia Tech shootings showed that Americans had become less disposed to support gun control measures than they were in the years surrounding the Columbine school shootings in 1999.

While public opinion about the war in Iraq has followed a path not unlike that charted during the Vietnam War, one important disparity stands out: attitudes toward the military.

On the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the public has turned against the decision to use military force. But views of how the military effort is going, while now decidedly negative, have been more volatile, and Americans have been slow to conclude that U.S. troops should be withdrawn.

Opinion surveys find much in the way of public frustration, but little in the way of direction on the international and military front.

"Correction" edged out "plunge" as the most used term, according to a Project for Excellence in Journalism search of stories on Google News for Feb. 27 and Feb. 28.

As the number of declared presidential candidates grows, followers of early poll readings should bear in mind some caveats. Early frontrunners for the Republican nomination in most of the past seven open contests have gone on to win the nomination, but this year there are two GOP frontrunners instead of one clear leader. On the Democratic side, even when there is a clear frontrunner as there is this year with Sen. Hillary Clinton, the early polls have been less reliable in predicting who will capture the nomination.

The strong showing of Democrat Barack Obama in early trial heat polls for the 2008 presidential election raises anew the question of whether the American public is ready to support an African American candidate for president. Recent polling points to two significant shifts on this question.

New poll finds continuing broad agreement that the earth is getting hotter, but few rate the phenomenon a top priority for action.

Most Americans are moderately upbeat about their family's financial prospects in the coming year, with 57% expecting some improvement in their financial situation and another 10% expecting a lot of improvement.