National Polling Summary

Governor Pat Quinn has been one of Illinois' leading reformers for more than 30 years, and has a proven track record giving a voice to the needs and concerns of middle-income families, consumers and seniors. As Governor, Quinn has restored integrity to the governor's office, and showed strong leadership in a tough budget crisis to cut over $2 billion. Governor Quinn passed the first major capital infrastructure bill in over a decade - that will create tens of thousands of jobs. Recent ALR polling shows Gov. Quinn is widely popular among Democratic primary voters (76% Favorability) and leads challenger Dan Hynes by a 28-point margin (54% Quinn / 26% Hynes). If you would like to learn more about Governor Quinn please visit him here.

September 8, 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.

The fierce health care debate takes on an air of anticipation before President Obama's address to Congress Wednesday night. Expect a refocusing of the debate as President Obama outlines specific details of health care reform. As a primer to President Obama's speech you may want to read a new Washington Post article "8 Questions About Health-Care Reform." In polling leading up to President Obama's speech, we see that a majority of Americans support a public option when the question is accurately worded, and an even larger majority feels it is extremely important to reform health care. It is also worth noting that 53% of voters say they are likely to support a Democratic candidate that supports President Obama's health care plan.

During this lull in the health care debate it may also be of interest to look at other potentially salient issues. The American public appears more skeptical and less optimistic about the effort in Afghanistan, as the situation appears increasingly volatile and as the number of American casualties rise.

Enjoy,

John Anzalone and Jeff Liszt

Health Care

Support for Public Option

Polling Firm	Date	Support/ Favor	Oppose/ Oppose
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	55%	41%
Quinnipiac	8/17/09	62%	32%

CNN/ ORC: Now thinking specifically about the health insurance plans available to most American, would you favor or oppose creating a public health insurance option administered by the federal government that would compete with plans offered by private health insurance companies. Quinnipiac: Do you support or oppose giving people the option of being covered by a government health insurance plan that would compete with private plans?

Importance of Public Option Choice

Polling Firm	Date	Extremely Important	Quite Important	Not That Important	Not at All Important	Not Sure
SurveyUSA	8/19/09	58%	19%	7%	15%	1%

SurveyUSA: In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance?

Depth of Reform Necessary

Polling Firm	Date	Complete Overhaul	Major Reform	Minor Reform	No Need for Change	Unsure
NBC News	8/17/09	21%	39%	31%	7%	2%

NBC News: Thinking some more about the issue of health care: Do you think the American health care system needs a complete overhaul, major reform, or is there no need for change?

Likelihood to support a Democratic candidate who Generally supports Obama's health care plan

Polling Firm	Date	Very Likely	S'what Likely	Not Too Likely	Not at All Likely
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	31%	22%	10%	36%

CNN/ ORC: How likely are you to vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress in your district if that person generally SUPPORTS Barack Obama's policies on health care?

Likelihood to support a Democratic candidate who generally opposes Obama's health care plan

Polling Firm	Date	Very Likely	S'what Likely	Not Too Likely	Not at All Likely
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	18%	32%	22%	27%

CNN/ ORC: How likely are you to vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress in your district if that person generally OPPOSE Barack Obama's policies on health care?

President Obama's Job Rating on Handling Health Care reform

Polling Firm	Date	Approve	Disapprove	DK
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	44%	53%	3%
CBS	8/31/09	40%	47%	13%
NBC News	8/17/09	41%	47%	12%

Republicans in Congress Job Rating on Handling Health Care reform

Polling Firm	Date	Approve	Disapprove	DK
NBC News	8/17/09	21%	62%	17%

Do protestors at the town hall meetings generally reflect the views of most Americans?

Polling Firm	Date	Generally Reflect Views	Do Not
CBS	8/31/09	41%	49%

NBC News: Has what you have seen, read, or heard about these town hall meetings made you more favorable toward, less favorable toward, or made no difference in your feelings about President Obama's health care plan?

The Economy

President Obama's Job Rating on the Economy

Polling Firm	Date	Approve	Disapprove	Unsure
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	49%	51%	-
CBS	8/31/09	53%	41%	6%

Has the U.S. economy turned the corner on the current crisis?

Polling Firm	Date	Stabilized	Turned the Corner	Worst Yet To Come
Ipsos/ McClatchy	8/31/09	49%	11%	35%
Ipsos/ McClatchy	8/3/09	56%	9%	32%
Ipsos/ McClatchy	7/13/09	49%	6%	39%

Ipsos/ McClatchy: Has the U.S. economy turned the corner on the current crisis, is the worst yet to come, or have things stabilized but not yet begun to improve?

Who would do a better job of dealing with the economy?

Polling Firm	Date	Reps	Dems	No Diff.
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	39%	52%	8%

CNN/ ORC: Do you think the Republicans in Congress or the Democrats in Congress would do a better job of dealing with the economy?

US Bureau of Labor Statistics Unemployment Rate

Date	Rate
August 2009	9.7%
June 2009	9.5%
August 2008	6.2%

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index

Polling Firm	Date
CB	August	54.1
CB	July	47.4
CB	June	49.3

Afghanistan

President Obama's Job Rating on Afghanistan

Polling Firm	Date	Approve	Disapprove	Und/ Neutral
CBS	8/31/09	48%	21%	23%
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	49%	46%	5%
CNN/ ORC	3/15/09	67%	29%	5%

Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war in Afghanistan?

Polling Firm	Date	Favor	Oppose	Und
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	42%	57%	2%
CNN/ ORC	5/17/09	50%	48%	3%

Do you think the United States is winning or not winning the war in Afghanistan?

Polling Firm	Date	Winning	Not Winning	Unsure
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	35%	62%	4%
CNN/ ORC	2/19/09	31%	64%	5%

What should the United States do now in Afghanistan?

Polling Firm	Date	Increase	Keep the Same	Decrease
CBS	8/31/09	25%	23%	41%
CBS	4/5/09	39%	18%	33%
CBS	2/22/09	42%	23%	24%

CBS: From what you have seen or heard about the situation in Afghanistan, what should the United States do now? Should the U.S. increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, keep the same number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan as there are now, or decrease the number of troops in Afghanistan?

President Obama

President Obama's Popularity

Polling Firm	Date	Fav	Unfav	Und/ Neutral
Research 2000	9/3/09	52%	43%	5%
CNN/ ORC	8/3/09	64%	34%	2%

President Obama's Job Rating

Polling Firm	Date	Positive/ Approve	Negative/ Disapprove
Gallup	9/5/09	52%	41%
CNN/ ORC	8/31/09	53%	45%

The Parties and Congress

Party Self Identification

Polling Firm	Date	Dems	Reps	Ind
CBS	8/31/09	35%	26%	39%
Ipsos/ McClatchy	8/31/09	34%	22%	45%

2010 Congressional Generic Ballot

Polling Firm	Date	Dems	Reps	Und/ Other
Ipsos/ McClatchy	8/31/09	42%	34%	17%
Pew	8/27/09	45%	44%	10%

Congressional Job Rating

	Polling Firm	Date	Positive/Approve	Negative/Disprove
Congress	CBS	8/31/09	26%	58%
Dems	Quinnipiac	8/3/09	35%	55%
Reps	Quinnipiac	8/3/09	29%	59%

United States Direction

Polling Firm	Date	Right Direction	Wrong Direction	No Opinion
Ipsos/McClatchy	8/31/09	40%	54%	6%
ABC/ Wash Post	8/17/09	44%	55%	1%

Fun Facts

Labor Day:

1. Declared a Holiday by President Grover Cleveland June 28, 1894

2. First five states to declare it a holiday were:

a. Oregon

b. Colorado

c. New York

d. Massachusetts

e. New Jersey

3. There is a debate about who started Labor Day some say it was Peter J. McGuire, the secretary of the American Federation of Labor, while others say Matthew Maguire, the secretary of the Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, NJ. Matthew Maguire planned for a picnic and demonstration in honor of American laborers.

4. The first Labor Day celebrations were held September 5, 1882 when in New York City 10,000 workers took an unpaid holiday and marched through the city.

Some Tweeting Facts From Tweetcongress.org (as of August 13)

� 176 Members of Congress are on Twitter:

o 43 Democratic Representatives (10 of them are ALR clients = 23%)

o 15 Democratic Senators (2 of them are ALR clients = 13%)

o 20 Republican Senators

o 81 Republican Representatives

o 23 ALR Clients are on Twitter (or 49% of our current clients)

Our Top 5 clients with the most followers are:
1. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee - 3,757
2. Artur Davis - 2,003
3. Anthony Foxx - 1,045
4. Kay Hagan - 1,017
5. Leonard Boswell - 921
Not including President Obama our clients are followed by a total of 11,185 tweeters.
President Obama is followed by 1,964,349 tweeters

Health Care

Support for Public Option

Polling Firm

Date

Support/ Favor

Oppose/ Oppose

CNN/ ORC

8/31/09

55%

41%

Quinnipiac

8/17/09

62%

32%

Importance of Public Option Choice

Polling Firm

Date

Extremely Important

Quite Important

Not That Important

Not at All Important

Not Sure

SurveyUSA

8/19/09

58%

19%

7%

15%

1%

SurveyUSA: In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance?

Depth of Reform Necessary

Polling Firm

Date

Complete Overhaul

Major Reform

Minor Reform

No Need for Change

Unsure

NBC News

8/17/09

21%

39%

31%

7%

2%

Polling Firm

Date

Very Likely

S'what Likely

Not Too Likely

Not at All Likely

CNN/ ORC

8/31/09

31%

22%

10%

36%

CNN/ ORC: How likely are you to vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress in your district if that person generally SUPPORTS Barack Obama's policies on health care?

Likelihood to support a Democratic candidate who generally opposes Obama's health care plan

Polling Firm

Date

Very Likely

S'what Likely

Not Too Likely

Not at All Likely

CNN/ ORC

8/31/09

18%

32%

22%

27%

CNN/ ORC: How likely are you to vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress in your district if that person generally OPPOSE Barack Obama's policies on health care?

Polling Firm

Date

Approve

Disapprove

DK

CNN/ ORC

8/31/09

44%