ABC News/Washington Post Poll, December 2008 [electronic resource] ABC News, The Washington Post

2010-11-09

Ann Arbor, Mich. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor] 2010

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This poll, fielded December 11-14, 2008, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. A national sample of 1,003 adults was surveyed. Respondents were asked whether they thought the country was headed in the right direction, whether they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling the presidency and the economy, and whether they approved of the federal government's overall response to the economic situation. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the upcoming presidential transition and what they thought was the most important issue they would like to see recently elected President Obama and the Congress deal with. Respondents were also asked several questions about the economy, the federal budget deficit, and the federal government's plan to stimulate the economy. Views were sought on the United States economic system, whether respondents thought the United States was in a long-term economic decline or whether they thought the economy was pretty solid. Respondents were also asked which party they trusted more to do a better job in coping with the main problems the nation faces over the next few years, and whether they thought the current financial situation was a crisis or not. Several questions asked respondents about the federal government's plan to bailout the Big Three United States automakers, whether they supported this plan, and whether they thought the automakers' problems were mainly the fault of the bad economy or the fault of their own mismanagement. Respondents were queried on how concerned they were about being able to maintain their current standard of living, how much they would spend on Christmas presents this year compared to last year, and how confident they were that they will be able to retire with enough income to last the rest of their life. Respondents were also asked several questions about their employment, whether they have been laid off or fired, whether they have had pay cuts or hours cut, and how likely they thought they would be laid off or fired in the next 12 months. Other questions focused on whether respondents thought the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan were worth fighting, whether significant progress was being made toward restoring civil order, and whether they thought the United States must win the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan for the war on terrorism to be a success. Finally, respondents were asked whether they voted in the presidential election and who they voted for. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, income, political ideology, political party affiliation, education level, and labor union membership.Cf: http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR27329.v2

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June 14, 2019

ABC News/Washington Post Poll, December 2008

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