National Polling Summary

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July 31, 2009
Anzalone Liszt Research
National Polling Summary

Welcome to the Anzalone Liszt Research National Polling Summary, a quick look at national public polls detailing key political environmental measures as well as attitudes of voters on the pressing issues of the week. We hope this summary will be helpful to you and your clients.

As Congress approaches the summer recess, they will have to prepare themselves to answer constituents' questions on health care reform. With the vote on health care now pushed back until they return to Washington D.C., there are many unanswered questions and a lot of work to be done. The notion that health care reform will decrease the average person's health care costs is not resonating with the 62% of Americans who feel that health care reform will increase their costs. With a strong majority saying health care reform will increase costs, and majorities saying health care reform will decrease their freedom of choice in doctors and make the system more complicated, it becomes apparent that supporters of health care reform need to quickly reframe the debate.

Enjoy,

John Anzalone and Jeff Liszt

Health Care

President Obama's Job Rating on Handling Health Care

Polling Firm	Date	Approve	Disapprove	DK
Time	7/28/09	46%	46%	8%
CBS/ NY Time	7/28/09	46%	38%	16%

Who do you trust more President Obama or Republicans in Congress on health care reform

Polling Firm	Date	Obama	Reps	Neither
Time	7/28/09	47%	32%	14%
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	55%	26%	7%

Time: Who do you trust more to develop new health care legislation: President Obama, or Republicans in Congress? CBS/ NY Times: Regardless of how you usually vote, who do you think has better ideas about reforming the health care system: Barack Obama, or the Republicans in Congress?

Type of changes needed in the health care system

Polling Firm	Date	Minor Adjustments	Major Reform	Unsure
Time	7/28/09	43%	55%	3%

Time: Would it be better to pretty much stay with the current health care system and just make some minor adjustments, or does the system need major reform?

NBC/ WSJ: Proposals to pay for the one trillion dollars

Proposal	Date	Acceptable	Not Acceptable
Require all to get health insurance, those who can afford it can get their own	6/15/09	62%	31%
Raising taxes on those making $250K+	6/15/09	62%	33%
Require all but the smallest businesses to offer health care coverage or pay a percentage of payroll to the government	6/15/09	55%	37%
Reduce payments to doctors and hospitals for services provided to Medicare and Medicaid patients	6/15/09	47%	46%
Require people with expensive plans with more generous benefits to pay taxes on portion of that plan's cots	6/15/09	33%	59%
Require all to pay taxes on cost of private plans	6/15/09	23%	70%

NBC/ WSJ: Experts currently estimate that this proposed health care plan will cost one trillion dollars over the next decade. I am going to read you some proposals for how the plan could be funded. After I read each statement, please tell me whether that proposal is acceptable or not acceptable.

Paying for health care reform

Polling Firm	Date	Favor	Oppose	Unsure
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	65%	32%	3%

CBS/ NY Times: In order to help pay for health care reform, would you favor or oppose increasing taxes on Americans with high incomes?

Requiring health insurance companies to cover people regardless of preexisting conditions

Polling Firm	Date	Approve	Disapprove	Unsure
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	76%	19%	5%

CBS/ NY Times: Some lawmakers have proposed requiring health insurance companies to cover anyone who applies for health insurance regardless of whether or not they have an existing medical condition or a prior illness. Do you approve or disapprove of requiring health insurance companies to cover anyone who applies?

Barack Obama's Health Care Plan

Polling Firm	Date	Good Idea/ Favor	Bad Idea/ Oppose	No Opinion
CNN/ ORC	6/28/09	51%	45%	-
NBC/ WSJ	6/15/09	33%	32%	30%
NBC/ WSJ	4/26/09	33%	26%	34%

CNN/ORC: From everything you have heard or read so far, do you favor or oppose Barack Obama's plan to reform health care? NBC/ WSJ: Turning to the issue of health care: From what you have heard about Barack Obama's health care plan, do you think his plan is a good idea or a bad idea?

Informed View on Obama's Health Care Plan

Polling Firm	Date	Favor	Oppose	Unsure
NBC/ WSJ	6/15/09	55%	35%	7%

NBC/ WSJ: Now I am going to tell you more about the health care plan that President Obama supports and please tell me whether you would favor or oppose it. The plan requires that health insurance companies cover people with pre-existing medical conditions. It also requires all but the smallest employers to provide health coverage for their employees, or pay a percentage of their payroll to help fund coverage for the uninsured. Families and individuals with lower - and middle-incomes would receive tax credits to help them afford insurance coverage. Some of the funding for this plan would come from raining taxes on wealthier Americans. Do you favor or oppose this plan?

Government exerting more control over nation's health care system

Polling Firm	Date	Should	Should not	Unsure
CBS	7/12/09	62%	34%	4%

CBS: Given the problems the county is facing, do you think the government should or should not exert more control over the nation's health care system?

Favor or oppose a government administered health insurance plan

Polling Firm	Date	Favor	Oppose	Unsure
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	66%	27%	7%
CBS	7/12/09	64%	29%	7%
CBS/ NY Times	6/16/09	72%	20%	8%

CBS/ NY Times: Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan - something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get - that would compete with private insurance plans?

Would government do a better or worse job providing medical coverage vs. private insurance co

Polling Firm	Date	Better	Worse	Unsure
CBS/ NY Times	6/16/09	50%	34%	14%

CBS/ NY Times: Do you think the government would do a better or worse job than private insurance companies in providing medical coverage?

Would government do a better or worse job holding down health care costs vs. private insurance co

Polling Firm	Date	Better	Worse	Unsure
CBS/ NY Times	6/16/09	59%	26%	12%

CBS/ NY Times: Do you think the government would do a better or worse job than private insurance companies in holding down health care costs?

Emphasis of health care reform should be: Health care costs or providing Health insurance for all

Polling Firm	Date	Keeping costs down/ Controlling Costs	Providing insurance/ Expanding Coverage	Unsure
USA Today/ Gallup	7/12/09	52%	42%	4%
Ipsos/ McClatchy	5/3/09	51%	42%	8%

USA Today/ Gallup: If you had to choose, which goal of health care reform would you say is more important: expanding health care coverage to include nearly all Americans, or controlling rising health care costs in the U.S. today? Ipsos/McClatch: On the topic of federal health care reform, some say that controlling costs should be the main emphasis. Others say that expanding coverage so that all Americans will have insurance should be the main emphasis. Which of these comes closest to your own personal opinion?

What is a more serious problem right now keeping costs down or providing insurance

Polling Firm	Date	Keeping costs down	Providing insurance	Unsure
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	43%	53%	4%
CBS/ NY Times	6/16/09	26%	65%	9%
CBS/ NY Times	4/5/09	40%	54%	6%

CBS/ NY Times: If you had to say, which do you thin is a more serious problem right now: keeping health care costs down for average Americans, OR providing health insurance for Americans who do not have any insurance?

What is Barack Obama's Health Care Plan Most Focused On

Polling Firm	Date	Cost	Coverage	Unsure
NBC/ WSJ	6/15/09	18%	64%	10%
NBC/ WSJ	4/26/09	12%	69%	7%

NBC/ WSJ: Turning to the issue of health care: From what you have heard about Barack Obama's health care plan, do you think his plan is a good idea or a bad idea?

Effect of health care reform on cost

Polling Firm	Date	Increase/ Raise	Decrease/ Lower	Remain the same
Time	7/28/09	62%	26%	3%
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	59%	15%	16%
CNN/ ORC	6/28/09	54%	17%	26%

Time: Overall, when you hear about what's being talked about in the health care debate, do you think the final legislation is likely to lower your health care costs in the long run, OR, raise you health care costs in the long run? CBS/ NY Times: From what you've heard or read, do you think the health care legislation under consideration in Congress will increase health care costs for most Americans, decrease health care costs for most Americans, or will it have no effect on health care costs for most Americans? CNN/ORC: From what you know of the health care reforms, which the Administration is working on, do you think the amount you pay for medical care would increase, decrease, or remain the same?

Effect of health care reform on freedom to choose your doctors and your coverage

Polling Firm	Date	More	Less	Same
Time	7/28/09	30%	56%	5%

Time: Overall, when you hear about what's being talked about in the health care debate, do you think the final legislation is likely to give you more freedom to choose your doctors and your coverage, OR, give you less freedom to choose your doctors and your coverage?

Health care reform will make things more complicated or simpler

Polling Firm	Date	More	Simpler	Unsure
Time	7/28/09	65%	29%	5%

Time: Overall, when you hear about what's being talked about in the health care debate, do you think the final legislation is likely to make everything more complicated, OR, make things simpler?

Importance of health care reform occurring in the next few months

Polling Firm	Date	Important	Not Important	Unsure
Time	7/28/09	69%	28%	3%

Time: Turning to health care reform, how important is it to you that Congress and the President pass a major health care reform bill in the next few months: very important, somewhat important, not very important, or not at all important to you?

Taking on Health Care Reform

Polling Firm	Date	Cannot Afford Right Now	More Important/ Need to fix now	Unsure
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	52%	44%	4%
CBS	7/12/09	46%	49%	5%

CBS/ NY Times: Which comes closest to your view? (1) The U.S. needs to fix its health care system now as part of fixing the overall economy. OR, (2) Because of the state of the economy, the U.S. cannot afford to fix its health care system right now. CBS: Given the problems the country is facing, do you think the government should or should not exert more control over the nation's health care system?

USA Today/ Gallup: Importance of Changes

Statement	Date	Extremely/ Very Important	Not/S'wht Important
Having your health care plan cover any medical test or treatment you and your doctor think you need	7/12/09	93%	6%
Being able to choose any doctor or hospital you like	7/12/09	88%	12%
Being able to get health insurance regardless of your job status or medical situation	7/12/09	86%	13%
Making your health insurance more affordable	7/12/09	83%	17%
Having the option to keep the health insurance plan you have now	7/12/09	77%	21%

USA Today/ Gallup: Next, as you may know, Congress is currently considering major changes to the way the health care system works in this country. Think about how such changes might affect you, personally, please tell me whether each of the following is extremely important, very important, somewhat important, or not important to you. How about...?

Issues in the News

Sarah Palin Favorability

Polling Firm	Date	Fav	Neutral	Unfav	Und
NBC/ WSJ	7/26/09	32%	20%	43%	5%
FOX	7/22/09	38%		51%	8%
ABC/ Wash Post	7/18/09	40%		53%	7%

FOX: I'm going to read you the names of several individuals and institutions. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of each one. If you've never heard of an individual or institution, please just say so. Sarah Palin. ABC/ Wash Post: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Sarah Palin

Media on Sarah Palin

Polling Firm	Date	Harder	Easier	Same	Unsure
CBS	7/12/09	46%	7%	44%	3%

Do you think Sarah Palin would have the ability to be an effective president?

Polling Firm	Date	Yes	No	Unsure
CBS	7/12/09	22%	65%	13%

Do you think the federal government should regulate the emission of greenhouse gases

Polling Firm	Date	Should	Should Not	Unsure
ABC/ Wash Post	6/21/09	75%	22%	3%
ABC/ Wash Post	4/24/09	75%	21%	4%

ABC/ Wash Post: Do you think the federal government should or should not regulate the release of greenhouse gases from sources like power plants, cars and factories in an effort to reduce global warming?

Support for "Cap and Trade"

Polling Firm	Date	Support/ Favor	Oppose	Unsure
ABC/ Wash Post	6/21/09	52%	42%	6%
CNN/ ORC	4/26/09	44%	51%	5%
ABC/ Wash Post	7/28/08	59%	34%	7%

ABC/ Wash Post: There's a proposed system called 'cap and trade.' The government would issue permits limiting the amount of greenhouse gases companies can put out. Companies that did not use all their permits could sell them to other companies. The idea is that many companies would find ways to put out less greenhouse gases, because that would be cheaper than buying permits. Would you support or oppose this system? CNN/ ORC: A proposal called 'cap and trade' would allow the federal government to limit the emissions from industrial facilities such as power plants and factories that some people believe cause global warming. Companies that exceed the limit could avoid fines or higher taxes by paying money to other companies that produced fewer emissions than allowed. Would you favor or oppose this proposal?

Should the Senate Confirm Judge Sotomayor

Polling Firm	Date	Should	Should Not	Unsure
NPR	7/26/09	50%	23%	27%
ABC/ Wash Post	6/21/09	62%	25%	13%

Pew: From what you've seen and heard so far, do you think the Senate should or should not confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court? ABC/ Wash Post: As you may know, Obama has nominated federal judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Do you think the U.S. Senate should or should not confirm Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court?

The Economy

President Obama's Job Rating on the Economy

Polling Firm	Date	Confident	Somewhat	Not at all
Time	7/28/09	51%	44%	5%
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	51%	41%	8%

Confidence in Obama has right set of goals and policies to improve the economy

Polling Firm	Date	Confident	Somewhat	Not at all
NBC/ WSJ	6/15/09	46%	24%	29%

Time frame in the Obama administration to see noticeable results in the economy

Polling Firm	Date	In the first year	Longer than that	Unsure
AP-GfK	7/20/09	16%	83%	2%

AP-Gfk: When it comes to improving the economy, do you think it is realistic to expect at least some noticeable results in the first year of the Obama administration, or do you think it will take longer than that to see any noticeable results?

Are you better off financially than you were when Obama became president

Polling Firm	Date	Better Off	Not as Well Off	About the Same
ABC/ Wash Post	7/18/09	8%	27%	64%

President Obama's policies effect on the economy

Polling Firm	Date	Better	Worse	No Effect
CBS/ NY Times	6/16/09	32%	15%	48%

CBS/ NY Times: So far, do you think Barack Obama's policies have made the economy better, made the economy worse, or haven't his policies had any effect on the economy yet?

Did Obama inherit or cause the current economic conditions

Polling Firm	Date	Inherited	Obama's policies responsible for	Some of both
NBC/ WSJ	6/15/09	72%	14%	10%

NBC/ WSJ: When you think about the current economic conditions do you feel that this is a situation that Barack Obama has inherited or is this a situation his policies are mostly responsible for?

Who do you trust more President Obama or Republicans in Congress on the economy

Polling Firm	Date	Obama	Reps	Neither
ABC/ Wash Post	7/18/09	56%	33%	9%
ABC/ Wash Post	6/21/09	55%	31%	9%
ABC/ Wash Post	4/24/09	61%	24%	11%

Are the Government actions to stabilize the economy working?

Polling Firm	Date	Govt. Actions Working	Govt. Actions Failing	Too Soon to Tell	DK
Fox	6/10/09	46%	39%	12%	3%
Fox	3/2/09	38%	44%	14%	4%

Fox: Since last fall, the federal government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to stabilize the nation's economy. Which of the following statements do you think best describes the actions the government has taken? 1. Government actions are basically working and without them things could have been a lot worse 2. Government actions are basically failing and without them things would be the same as they are today or even better 3. Too soon to tell 4. Don't Know

Impact of the stimulus package on the economy

Polling Firm	Date	Better	Worse	No Impact	DK
AP-GfK	7/20/09	28%	21%	49%	2%
CBS	7/12/09	21%	15%	60%	4%

AP-Gfk: Next, we'd like you think about Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan passed earlier this year and its effect on the U.S. economy, both in the short term and in the long term. First, up until now do you think Obama's economic stimulus plan has made the economy better, not had an effect, or made the economy worse? CBS: So far, do you think the federal government's stimulus package has made the economy better, made the economy worse, or has it had no impact on the economy so far?

Long term impact of the stimulus package on the economy

Polling Firm	Date	Better	Worse	No Impact	DK
AP-Gfk	7/20/09	48%	31%	19%	2%
CBS	7/12/09	42%	21%	29%	8%

AP-Gfk: In the long term, do you think Obama's economic stimulus plan will make the economy better, nto have an effect, or make the economy worse? CBS: In the long run, do you think the federal government's stimulus package will make the economy better, will make the economy worse, or will it have no impact on the economy in the long run?

Direction of Economy

Polling Firm	Date	Right Track	Wrong Track	Unsure
Pew	5/24/09	53%	39%	8%
Pew	3/30/09	50%	39%	11%
Pew	2/23/09	47%	34%	19%
Pew	1/19/09	31%	48%	21%

US Bureau of Labor Statistics Unemployment Rate

Date	Rate
June 2009	9.5%
May 2009	9.4%
April 2009	8.9%
June 2008	5.6%

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index

Polling Firm	Date
CB	June	49.3
CB	May	54.9
CB	April	40.8

President Obama

President Obama's Popularity

Polling Firm	Date	Fav	Unfav	Und/ Neutral
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	50%	23%	27%
NBC/ WSJ	7/27/09	55%	34%	10%

President Obama's Job Rating

Polling Firm	Date	Positive/ Approve	Negative/ Disapprove
Time	7/28/09	56%	38%
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	58%	30%

The Parties and Congress

Party Self Identification

Polling Firm	Date	Dems	Reps	Ind
Time	7/28/09	34%	23%	32%
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	34%	20%%	46%

Pew Yearly Totals of Party Identification

Polling Firm	Date	Dems	Reps	Ind
Pew	2009	35%	23%	36%
Pew	2008	36%	25%	32%
Pew	2007	33%	25%	34%
Pew	2006	33%	28%	30%

2010 Congressional Generic Ballot

Polling Firm	Date	Dems	Reps	Und/ Other
NBC/ WSJ	7/27/09	46%	39%	15%
NPR	7/26/09	42%	43%	10%
GWU	7/23/09	43%	40%	17%

NBC/ WSJ: What is your preference for the outcome of next year's congressional elections: a Congress controlled by Republicans or a Congress controlled by Democrats? NPR: I know it is a long way off, but thinking about the elections in 2010, if the election for U.S. Congress were held today, would you be voting for the Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate in your district where you live? GWU: And, still thinking about the 2010 elections, if the election for Congress were being held today, and you had to make a choice, would you be voting for the Republican candidate or the Democrat candidate, in your Congressional district?

Congressional Job Rating

Polling Firm	Date	Positive/Approve	Negative/Disprove
NBC/ WSJ	7/27/09	24%	63%
NPR	7/26/09	33%	61%

Congressional Democrats Job Rating

Polling Firm	Date	Pos/Approve	Neg/Disprove	DK
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	47%	42%	11%
ABC/ Wash Post	7/18/09	47%	48%	5%

Congressional Republicans Job Rating

Polling Firm	Date	Pos/Approve	Neg/Disprove	DK
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	28%	61%	11%
ABC/ Wash Post	7/18/09	36%	58%	6%

United States Direction

Polling Firm	Date	Right Direction	Wrong Direction	No Opinion
Time	7/28/09	51%	44%	6%
CBS/ NY Times	7/28/09	42%	49%	9%

Anzalone Liszt Research Polls

Virginia Governor's Race

Polling Firm	Date	Deeds	McDonnell	Und
Anzalone Liszt Research	6/14/09	42%	38%	20%

Alabama Governor's Race

Polling Firm	Date	Davis	Byrne	Und
Anzalone Liszt Research	5/9/09	43%	38%	20%

Fun Facts

Some Tweeting Facts From Tweetcongress.org

� 146 Members of Congress are on Twitter:

o 38 Democratic Representatives (8 of them are ALR clients = 23%)

o 14 Democratic Senators (2 of them are ALR clients = 15%)

o 16 Republican Senators

o 78 Republican Representatives

o 20 ALR Clients are on Twitter (or 43% of our current clients)

� Mike Doyle has the third most political tweets of any member of Congress.

� Our Top 5 clients with the most followers are:

1. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee - 2,777
2. Artur Davis - 1,613
3. Anthony Foxx - 861
4. Kay Hagan - 768
5. Leonard Boswell - 755
Not including President Obama our clients are followed by a total of 8,992 tweeters.
President Obama is followed by 1,604,390 tweeters

Health Care

President Obama's Job Rating on Handling Health Care

Polling Firm

Date

Approve

Disapprove

DK

Time

7/28/09

46%

46%

8%

CBS/ NY Time

7/28/09

46%

38%

16%

Who do you trust more President Obama or Republicans in Congress on health care reform

Polling Firm

Date

Obama

Reps

Neither

Time

7/28/09

47%

32%

14%

CBS/ NY Times

7/28/09

55%

26%

7%

Time: Who do you trust more to develop new health care legislation: President Obama, or Republicans in Congress? CBS/ NY Times: Regardless of how you usually vote, who do you think has better ideas about reforming the health care system: Barack Obama, or the Republicans in Congress?

Type of changes needed in the health care system

Polling Firm

Date

Minor Adjustments

Major Reform

Unsure

Time

7/28/09

43%

55%

3%

Time: Would it be better to pretty much stay with the current health care system and just make some minor adjustments, or does the system need major reform?

NBC/ WSJ: Proposals to pay for the one trillion dollars

Proposal

Date

Acceptable

Not Acceptable

Require all to get health insurance, those who can afford it can get their own

6/15/09

62%

31%

Raising taxes on those making $250K+

6/15/09

62%

33%

Require all but the smallest businesses to offer health care coverage or pay a percentage of payroll to the government

6/15/09

55%

37%

Reduce payments to doctors and hospitals for services provided to Medicare and Medicaid patients

6/15/09

47%

46%

Require people with expensive plans with more generous benefits to pay taxes on portion of that plan's cots

6/15/09

33%

59%

Require all to pay taxes on cost of private plans

6/15/09

23%

70%

NBC/ WSJ: Experts currently estimate that this proposed health care plan will cost one trillion dollars over the next decade. I am going to read you some proposals for how the plan could be funded. After I read each statement, please tell me whether that proposal is acceptable or not acceptable.

Paying for health care reform

Polling Firm

Date

Favor