Politics & Policy

As Democrats gather in Denver, many may be wondering why the presidential race has tightened. An analysis of polling data shows that that while voters are unhappy with the state of the nation and give low ratings to President Bush, the GOP base has started to solidify around McCain. Polling also finds that Obama's extensive media coverage may be a mixed blessing.

As the 2008 conventions approach, the Democratic Party’s advantage in party identification remains as large as it has been over the past two decades, and the Democratic Party’s image remains substantially more positive than the GOP’s.

Overview Some Americans are having a change of heart about mixing religion and politics. A new survey finds a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters. For a decade, majorities of Americans […]

Given the increased discussion of faith and values in the 2008 presidential campaign, it is perhaps fitting that candidates John McCain and Barack Obama are scheduled to make their first joint appearance of the general election season at an event moderated by Pastor Rick Warren at his 22,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., on […]

Overview With less than two weeks to go before the start of the presidential nominating conventions, Barack Obama’s lead over John McCain has disappeared. Pew’s latest survey finds 46% of registered voters saying they favor or lean to the putative Democratic candidate, while 43% back his likely Republican rival. In late June, Obama held a […]

More than one-fourth of Hispanic adults in the United States lack a usual health care provider, and a similar proportion report obtaining no health care information from medical personnel in the past year.

One week after sharing headlines equally with John McCain, Barack Obama again dominated the news last week. And even as McCain and Obama sparred over energy, the old question of what do the Clintons want generated major coverage.

In the 2008 presidential campaign, both Democrats and Republicans have frequently spoken about the concept of faith and, in many cases, their own religious beliefs. To discuss the role of religious voters in the primaries and the potential impact of religion on the general election, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life turned to […]

After accusations of pro-Obama bias and a run of media soul searching, and helped by a heavy dose of controversial attack advertising from his campaign team, Republican nominee John McCain finally forced Barack Obama to share the headlines last week.