Election 2008

Summary of Findings Over the past six weeks the intense, and often negative, contest between Obama and Clinton has dominated media coverage of the campaign as well as public attention. And over this period, more Americans have consistently said their views of Obama and Clinton have become less favorable, rather than more favorable, in recent […]

Summary of Findings Democratic voters are not as positive about Barack Obama as they were a month ago. Somewhat smaller percentages of Democrats describe Obama in favorable terms, and he has lost his lead over Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination. Nationally, Democratic voters are about evenly divided between Obama and Clinton; […]

Hillary Clinton won the Catholic vote in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary by more than a two-to-one margin, repeating a pattern among religious voters similar to those seen in other states. Does this have implications for the May 6 contests in Indiana and North Carolina?

Barack Obama lost the Catholic vote in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary by more than a two-to-one margin despite his campaign’s extensive Catholic outreach efforts. Among Pennsylvania Democrats, exit polls also showed significant differences in candidate preference between those who attend worship services at least once a week and those who never attend at all. Senior […]

Summary of Findings Interest in what the public perceives as an excessively negative presidential campaign declined in the days leading up to the Pennsylvania primary. Just 29% of Americans say they paid very close attention to news about the presidential campaign last week, the lowest percentage recorded since December 2007. By comparison, 43% said they […]

Summary of Findings John McCain’s campaign for president has been flying under the news media’s radar since he sewed up the Republican nomination in early March. In recent weeks, he has received less news coverage – and has been consistently less visible to the public – than either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Nonetheless, far […]

Electability is an issue, and one that both Obama and Clinton are likely to use to woo the superdelegates. But our polling suggests that neither candidate has a demonstrable advantage to tout.

The Pennsylvania primary looms large in the tight contest for the Democratic nomination. In an interview with Pew Forum Associate Director Mark O’Keefe, Senior Fellow John Green explains why the connections that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama make – or fail to make – with the state’s religious voters could have major consequences on April […]

Obama's high favorable ratings are more influenced by how he makes voters feel than by specific characteristics they attributed to him. Clinton's image, in contrast, is driven by opinions about her own qualities.

About two-in-five voters now say they have received a pre-recorded call about the campaign. Meanwhile, Democrats are far more engaged in campaign activities than are Republcians -- including donating money to a candidate.