Elections Before 2008

Summary of Findings By two-to-one, voters who watched the first presidential debate believe that John Kerry prevailed. But the widely viewed Sept. 30 showdown did not result in a sea change in opinions of the candidates. As a consequence, George W. Bush continues to have a much stronger personal image than his Democratic challenger, while […]

The presidential campaign world today regards the internet as an asset for fund-raising, voter-profiling, and insider communicating, but not for advertising, according to the first-ever systematic study of online political ads.

Debates More Important to Young Voters

Summary of Findings George W. Bush has reopened a significant lead over challenger John Kerry over the past week, even as voters express less confidence in the president on Iraq and he continues to trail Kerry on the economy. Two successive nationwide surveys of nearly 1,000 registered voters each show Bush’s margin over Kerry growing […]

Note: An updated version of this report is now available as Politics and the Pulpit: 2008. During every election cycle, many religious congregations find themselves wondering what role, if any, they can play in the political process. Can a minister, rabbi, imam or other member of the clergy endorse a candidate from the pulpit or […]

10:30am-Noon Washington, D.C. Speakers: Richard Land, President, Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Robert Tuttle, Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School Ronald Walters, Director, African American Leadership Institute; Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland Moderator: Luis Lugo, Director, The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life LUIS LUGO: We […]

Pew Research Center Commentary

Introduction and Summary Voter opinion in the presidential race has seesawed dramatically in the first two weeks of September. Following a successful nominating convention, George W. Bush broke open a deadlocked contest and jumped out to a big lead over John Kerry. However, polling this past week finds that Bush’s edge over his Democratic rival […]

Correction: Two of the tables (27 and 28) from the original survey have been updated. Please download the revised version of the survey summary, as well as the full report, below. Survey summary (.pdf) Full survey report (.pdf) Much has been said in recent years about the growing identification of religious conservatives — especially Evangelical […]

As the GOP heads into its nominating convention, two new features on the president’s campaign web site warrant attention.