Less than two months after Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, Americans remain strongly concerned that the disaster will hurt the U.S. economy, although the number concerned has fallen slightly from last month.
Japan continues to deal with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March that caused an historic-level nuclear disaster. With problems continuing at the Fukushima nuclear plant, Americans remain concerned about nuclear power plant safety at home but aren’t quite ready to phase out those plants just yet.
Most voters still want to repeal the national health care law but are now evenly divided over the likelihood of the controversial measure actually being repealed.
Just eight percent (8%) of voters nationwide currently rate national security issues such as the War on Terror as their top voting issue. That’s down from 20% on Election Day 2008 when Barack Obama was elected and down from 41% on Election Day 2004 when George W. Bush was reelected.
There was more muddle in the Middle East as the week came to a close.
Treaties signed over the years sometimes make strange bedfellows, and surprisingly one such regional treaty puts the United States in the position of helping Fidel Castro’s Cuba if it gets in a jam.
Most voters continue to believe that the federal government’s policies encourage illegal immigration but remain closely divided over whether it's better to let the federal government or individual states enforce immigration laws.
Voters continue to believe strongly that a Middle East peace treaty must include an acknowledgement by Palestinians of Israel’s right to exist, but there’s very little confidence that there ever will be peace between Israelis and Arabs.
Voters aren’t convinced the U.S. border with Mexico is secure, and they still put that goal far ahead of legalizing illegal immigrants already in the country. A majority of voters also continue to favor a welcoming immigration policy.
President Obama leads seven long-shot Republican candidates in hypothetical 2012 matchups. But in a result consistent with polls involving the bigger GOP names, the president’s support stays in a very narrow range. In every matchup tested so far this year, the president’s support has stayed between 42% and 49%.
Most voters think the growing political unrest in the Arab world is putting Israel further at risk.
A majority of voters continues to blame the nation’s economic problems on the George W. Bush years but still trust their own economic judgment more than President Obama’s.
While both the United States and NATO military forces have been carrying out airstrikes in Libya to protect rebel forces and civilians from Moammar Qaddafi’s regime, voters nationwide have mixed ideas of who is taking the lead in the military operation at this time.
Most voters still expect Libyan Ruler Moammar Gaddafi will be removed from power as a result of military action now being taken by the United States and other countries. But there has been virtually no change in this expectation since Osama bin Laden was killed.
U.S. voters think that Enhanced Interrogation Techniques like waterboarding probably yielded some valuable information but are unsure whether they were needed to find Osama bin Laden.
A majority of voters continue to support repeal of the national health care law and believe it will increase the federal deficit.
Voters are more pessimistic than ever about the possibility of stopping illegal immigration for good in the United States.
President Obama received a bounce in the polls following the bin Laden news, but over this past week, the bounce has largely faded. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows that the president’s ratings have slipped back into the high 40s, right where they’ve been for most of the past year-and-a-half. The number who Strongly Disapprove of the president remains a bit lower than it was before the big news and enthusiasm for the president is up among his base voters.
Voter ratings for President Obama’s handling of national security issues have dipped from last week's high following the killing of Osama bin Laden, but the president’s grades on economic issues remain weak.
President Obama this week praised Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for her efforts to fight illegal immigration, but she remains the most unpopular member of the president's Cabinet.
