Behind the Numbers: February 27, 2011 - March 5, 2011

Huckabee, Portman and the morality of single mothers

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee stepped into the culture wars Friday when he commented on Academy Award winning actress Natalie Portman's plans to have a child out of wedlock, recalling the debate between Vice President Dan Quayle and fictional character Murphy Brown 19 years ago. Beyond the social or political...

By Peyton M. Craighill  | March 4, 2011; 3:44 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (5)
 
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Tea party anger with government subsides

A new poll by the Pew Research Center finds that these levels of anger have dissipated significantly. Overall, 14 percent of the public says they are angry, down 9 percentage points from a poll in September when anger reached its peak at 23 percent.

By Peyton Craighill  | March 3, 2011; 11:40 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (51)
 
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The Westboro Baptist case: Testing the limits of free speech

A new ruling from the Supreme Court on Wednesday protects the First Amendment free speech rights for the Westboro Baptist Church. This tiny church has made a practice of demonstrating at funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in action, reasoning that military deaths are God's retribution for the expanding acceptance of homosexuality.

By Peyton M. Craighill  | March 2, 2011; 2:37 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (13)
Categories:  Gay marriage, Supreme Court  
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The politics of blame, shutdown edition

People say they would apportion blame about evenly between the Obama administration and the Republicans in the event of a government shutdown. Some 36 percent in a new Washington Post poll conducted with the Pew Research Center say they'd blame Republicans and 35 percent Obama, with 17 percent volunteering that they'd blame both.

By Peyton M. Craighill  | March 1, 2011; 9:37 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (11)
Categories:  Congress, Federal Budget Deficit  
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