Behind the Numbers - January 17, 2010

In Massachusetts, a different electorate

In Tuesday's Massachusetts special election, Democrat Martha Coakley underperformed Barack Obama's 2008 vote by 15 points, and a new Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation-Harvard University poll of voters in the Bay State shows this year's contest drew to the polls a whiter, older, less-educated and more independent electorate than did the...

By Jennifer Agiesta | January 22, 2010; 5:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Massachusetts
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New Poll: Massachusetts special election

Post-Kaiser-Harvard post-election Massachusetts poll is now live. Data are here, including breakdowns of Brown and Coakley voters. We'll be posting crosstabs from this poll today. If you'd like particular breakdowns, let us know in the comments section below....

By Jon Cohen | January 22, 2010; 3:38 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Post Polls
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MA voters: what were they thinking? (new poll coming)

Republican Scott Brown won two-thirds of the Massachusetts voters who believe the country is seriously off course, according to a new Washington Post-Kaiser-Harvard poll of special election voters (and non-voters). Brown's margin here highlights a shift in voter anger; in 2008, Obama scored a decisive win among those dissatisfied with...

By Jon Cohen | January 22, 2010; 11:42 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (50)
Categories: Post Polls
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Rating Obama on terrorism

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds President Obama's handling of the threat of terrorism continues to be a strong point, but on one of his most high profile initiatives - closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay - support has fallen off sharply. After taking the oath of office...

By Jennifer Agiesta | January 20, 2010; 5:53 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Terrorism
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Medical marijuana popular as N.J., D.C. near legalization

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds broad support for the legalization of medical marijuana - a move currently underway in New Jersey and the District of Columbia - and a majority says that if it is legalized, it should be available to any patient who gets a prescription. More...

By Jennifer Agiesta | January 18, 2010; 5:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Post Polls
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Trend on presidential approval among independents

Political independents are again front-and-center in the latest analyses of new Post-ABC polling data (here and here), and a look back to data of yore show President Obama facing the highest recorded one-year disapproval rating among this key group. Among independents at one-year-mark: Approve Disapprove Obama 49% 49% G.W. Bush...

By Jon Cohen | January 18, 2010; 1:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: The Independents
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