Weekly Hot List

Fast facts from Gallup related to top stories in the news:

Q3 Economy: 44% in October said economic conditions were poor, down from 47% in Sept.

Undecided: 19% of likely voters yet to solidify their preference for Congress

Sealed and Delivered: 11% of registered voters cast votes prior to this week

Proposition 19: 46% of Americans support legalizing marijuana

Cold and Flu Season: Self-reported cases peaked last year in October

To get all of our stories, sign up for All Gallup Headlines via e-mail alert or RSS.

Election 411 for the Final Week

With one week to go until the congressional midterm elections, we're examining the electorate from all angles to report everything we know about what voters are thinking to you.

Our likely voters models continue to show Republicans in a strong position in two different turnout scenarios and Democrats gaining modestly among independents. We'll do one last round of surveying over the weekend and put out our final estimates on the morning of Monday, Nov. 1. (Update: we will release our final estimates late Sunday, Oct. 31.)

Additionally, here are some of the other election-related stories you can expect from us over the next week:

• What voters say is the most important issue affecting their vote and how these views relate to voting outcomes (Update: read the story.)
  
• How many voters have already voted and who they are (Update: read the story.)
  
• An updated look at who the likely voters are (Update: read the story.)
  
• Who the voters are who still haven't made up their minds (Update: read the story.)
  
• Views on this year's campaigns and campaign ads (Update: read the story.)
  
• Views on Congress' accomplishments this year compared to previous years (Update: read the story.)
• How much it matters to Americans who controls Congress
• Americans' views on whether the election will result in major changes in Washington
  
• A special update on the economy that the winners will inherit

To be sure to get all of these stories as soon as they are published, sign up to receive All Gallup Headlines via e-mail alert or RSS feed.

You can also visit our Election 2010 tag to read all of our election stories to date and visit our 2010 Central blog for additional insights from our Gallup editors.

Weekly Hot List

Guest post from Gallup.com Associate Editor Elizabeth Mendes

Fast facts from Gallup related to top stories in the news:

Powerful Politico: +48 net positive impact of Clinton campaigning among Democrats, +42 for Obama

Palin Plus: 40% of GOP say her presence could persuade them to vote for a candidate in their area

Two Weeks Out: GOP maintains strong lead in generic ballot for Congress in various turnout scenarios

Mayhem in Mexico: 56% of Mexicans report gangs where they live, 43% illegal drug sales

U.S. Unemployment: Gallup finds 10% in mid-October; predicts surge in Nov. 5 government numbers


To get all of our stories, sign up for All Gallup Headlines via e-mail alert or RSS.

Election 411 for the Next Two Weeks

We're now at the two-week mark before Election Day and Gallup.com remains committed to providing the data-driven intelligence you need to understand the current political climate.

Our likely voter modeling of the generic ballot for Congress continues to show Republicans with strong advantages in two different turnout scenarios. What's more, the basic structure of the race has shifted little over the past three weeks.

We'll keep tracking voter preferences over the next two weeks, putting our last two reports out on Monday, Oct. 25 and Monday Nov. 1.

Additionally, here are some of the other election-related stories you can expect from us over the next two weeks:

• An update on Americans' satisfaction with the way things are going in the country, one of our Election 2010 Key Indicators (Update: read the story.)
  
• Updated favorable ratings for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner, as they await their fate (Update: read the story.)
  
• Sarah Palin's level of influence on the campaign trail, adding to what we've reported on Bill Clinton and Barack Obama (Update: read the story.)
  
• President Obama's final approval rating for the third quarter in historical context as well as his latest favorable rating (Update: read the story.)
  
• Americans' views on whether their own congressional representative and "most members of Congress" deserve re-election (Update: read the story.)
  
• A special analysis on who the voters are who still haven't made up their minds
• An update on who the likely voters are in the home stretch

To be sure to get all of these stories as soon as they are published, sign up to receive all of our Politics news via e-mail alerts or RSS feeds.

You can also visit our Election 2010 tag to read all of our election stories to date and visit our 2010 Central blog for additional insights from our Gallup editors.

Weekly Hot List

Fast facts from Gallup related to top stories in the news:

Life in Chile: 58% in 2009 were confident in their gov't; 83% had friends or relatives to count on

Battle for Congress: 12- to 17-point lead for Republicans depending on turnout estimates

Campaign Consideration: 26-point gap between Obama's rating and Congress'

Same-Sex Marriage: 44% in May said unions should be legal, 53% said they should not

Wallets Shut: $48 average daily spending among lower- and middle-income consumers is new low

To get all of our stories, sign up for All Gallup Headlines via e-mail alert or RSS.

The Government Question, From All Angles

All this week on Gallup.com, we've been exploring what Americans say they want from their government. What we've found is that rather than holding extreme views one way or the other, many Americans see a "middle ground" role for government, where it takes neither no responsibility nor total responsibility for most functions it could.

Here's a quick round up of the articles we've published:

• Americans' Image of "Federal Government" Mostly Negative: Americans' word-for-word responses when asked to "describe the federal government in a word or phrase." Responses are presented graphically in a word cloud as well as verbatim in an attachment.
  

• Americans' Views Vary on How Active Government Should Be: The spectrum on which Americans place themselves on a 1 to 5 scale where 1 means they think government should do only those things necessary to provide the most basic functions and 5 means the government should take active steps in every area it can to try to improve the lives of its citizens. The country splits equally in perfect thirds.
  

• Job Creation, Securing Borders Top List of What Gov't Should Do: What Americans say, in their own words, the government is currently not doing that it should be doing and what the government is currently doing that it should not be doing. Job creation and healthcare legislation top the lists, respectively.
  

• Majorities in U.S. View Gov't as Too Intrusive and Powerful: Our long-standing Gallup trends on Americans' views about the federal government, all of which show an increase in negative views over the past few years.
  

• Americans Choose Middle Over Extremes on Gov't Functions: Americans' views on how much responsibility the government should take for specific social and economic functions. Americans more often choose middle ground, rather than extreme, responses while tilting toward "more responsibility" rather than less on 7 of 11 functions.

Our Editor in Chief, who in a Gallup/USA Today today event on these data, compared the federal government's image to that of the cable company -- in the fact that people don't like it even though it performs functions people want -- will have more on these findings later this week in his blog Polling Matters.

We'll also continue to explore this topic in Gallup.com questions and stories. Thursday we'll report on the level of trust Americans place in themselves compared with those they've elected to represent them when it comes to making decisions about the issues facing the country. Next week, we'll also report on Americans' views on business versus government, in terms of both efficiency and regulation.

To get the stories as soon as they are published, sign up to receive our government stories via e-mail alert or RSS.

Americans on the Federal Government, In-Depth

Our lead story this morning is the first of several this week exploring how Americans feel about the proper role of government.

We decided to tackle the issue in-depth, to help reveal the shades of gray in the black and white debate between big government and small government. We knew Americans had much more to say than whether they want less government or more. We learned a lot from their responses to our questions -- some of which make up a cover story in this morning's USA Today -- and by their word-for-word responses when asked to describe the federal government in one word or phrase.

We'll have several more stories this week on what Americans see as the core purposes of government, what services it should and shouldn't provide, its relationship with business, and more. We'll analyze these issues from all angles, breaking views down by political party and other demographics where appropriate and examining our Gallup trends for historical context and shifts over time.

Gallup, USA Today, and political experts will also further discuss and debate these findings at a Gallup summit to be held Wednesday morning at Gallup's Washington, D.C. headquarters.

To be sure to get all of the related stories as soon as they are published -- and future stories on this topic -- register to receive all of our Politics news via e-mail alert or RSS.

Weekly Hot List

Fast facts from Gallup related to top stories in the news:

September Unemployment: 10.1% rate found by Gallup reflects late-month increase

Stock Market Surge: 22% in April saw stocks as the best long-term investment, up from '09

Race for Congress: 53% to 56% of current likely voters prefer Republicans

Who the Likely Voters Are: 54% are conservative; other demographics typical

Obesity Epidemic: 26.6% obesity rate among U.S. adults is steady this year but up from '08

To get all of our stories, sign up for All Gallup Headlines via e-mail alert or RSS.

Tracking "Likely Voters" Until Election Day

As Gallup began reporting likely voter estimates this week for the midterm congressional elections, here's a preview of what to expect from us over the next four weeks leading up to Election Day.

Each Monday, we'll update you on our likely voter estimates based on surveys conducted over the previous two weeks. Since we poll through Sunday and get final results on Monday, our results generally come out late Monday afternoon.

You can be sure to receive each weekly update when it is ready by signing up for Election 2010 e-mail alerts. Additionally, bookmark our Election 2010 interactive for an always-available glance at all of our Election 2010 data key indicators, including both likely voter estimates, registered voter preferences, enthusiasm about voting, job approval ratings, and more. Here, you can download complete trends and learn more about how we arrive at our likely voter estimates and how our key indicators relate to election outcomes.

In addition, Gallup editors Frank Newport, Jeff Jones, and Lydia Saad provide expert analysis on the election landscape in their blog, 2010 Central and in Gallup.com stories. In our lead story Friday morning, Lydia Saad will report on how the profile of likely voters reported this past Monday compares with likely voters in prior midterms since 1994.

We hope you'll stay with us through the election and beyond, both to see how voters' sentiments translate to election outcomes and how election outcomes shift views going forward.

Obama Approval by Race and More, Available Anytime

We're seeing a fair bit of coverage today on the demographic breaks included in our latest update on President Barack Obama's job approval rating for September. Several news organizations have picked up on the large race gap -- with 91% of blacks approving of the president's job performance, compared with 36% of whites.

While this gap is significant and noteworthy, it isn't new. Gallup found a similar gap in August, slightly greater than the gap seen in July. Reporting on the July data, our Editor in Chief, Frank Newport, noted that while Obama's high ratings among blacks are not dissimilar from those recorded for former President Clinton, the race gap is in fact much larger.

In May, our Jeffrey M. Jones looked at the race gap alongside the gaps by party identification and age -- finding the former to be larger and the latter to be smaller. This continues to be the case.

All of these data are based on our Gallup Daily tracking, which provides us with consistent sample sizes large enough to analyze these subgroups in depth. While you can count on us to report on noteworthy patterns and changes when we see them, you can also explore Obama's approval rating for yourself at anytime among these groups and more, based on the weekly aggregates we publish each week in our president job approval center.

To make sure you are always up to date on our latest findings on President Obama's approval rating, sign up to receive our Presidential Job Approval stories by e-mail alert or RSS.

Weekly Hot List

Fast facts from Gallup related to top stories in the news:

Ecuador Uprising: 58% of Ecuadorians in 2009 struggled to afford food

More Maliki?: 41% of Iraqis in February approved of their country's leadership

Consumer Confidence Dive: -33 score on Gallup's index matches 2010 low

Obama on Campus: 55% support for Democrats among 18- to 29-year-olds is up from August

Gulf Coast Wellbeing: 25.6% more depression diagnoses reported after oil spill

To get all of our stories, sign up for All Gallup Headlines via e-mail alert or RSS.