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Public Opinion Watch covers newly released polls, as well as key newspaper and magazine articles that make use of polling data. If you’ve ever wondered what to make of the blizzard of survey data covered in the newspapers— and whether the newspapers themselves know what they’re talking about— you’ll want to check out this feature on a regular basis. Each edition will combine noteworthy findings and trends from the latest polling data with analysis of the misinterpretations and misrepresentations to which polling data are so often subject.

Browse a complete listing of Public Opinion Watch opinion pieces for 2005:

December 21, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of December 12–18, 2005.

• Seniors, the Prescription Drug Benefit, and the 2006 Election
• Economics and Public Opinion on Immigration

December 14, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of December 5–11, 2005.

• Progressive Target: Emerging Suburbs
• Iraq the Vote?

December 7, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of November 28–December 4, 2005.

• Will Predicting Victory in Iraq Rally the Public Behind Bush?
• Why Can’t the Public Lose Its Economic Pessimism?

November 30, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of November 21–28, 2005.

• Moving Toward Isolationism or Back to Normal?
• The Bush Administration: Liars Who Can’t Run the Economy

November 23, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of November 14–20, 2005.

• The Iraq Situation Isn’t As Bad As It Seems for the Bush Administration: It’s Worse
• Republicans vs. Democrats on the Issues

November 16, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of November 7–13, 2005.

• Will the Real Exurban Voters Please Stand Up?
• Don’t Like It, Don’t Understand It, Don’t Plan to Use It: Seniors on the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

November 9, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of October 31–November 6, 2005.

• Is This the End of Bushism?
• It’s Definitely a Pro-Choice, Pro–Roe v. Wade Country

November 3, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of October 24–30, 2005.

• It's the Corruption and Cronyism, Stupid
• Public Opinion on Immigration
• Public Opinion on Stem Cell Research

October 26, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of October 17–23, 2005.

• Change Constituency Continues to Grow
• Economic Pessimism Shows No Signs of Lifting
• Youth Tilt Progressive

October 19, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of October 10–16, 2005.

• Public Resoundingly Rejects Bush Policies
• The Progressive Majority and Perot Voters

October 12, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of October 3–9, 2005.

• Should We Call Them “Indycrats”?
• Has the Public Turned Away from Internationalism? (Part 2)

October 5, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of September 26–October 2, 2005.

• Who’s Too Close to Whom?
• Economic Pessimism Update
• Has the Public Turned Away from Internationalism?

September 29, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of September 19–25, 2005.

• Economic Pessimism Grips the Public
• Katrina and Iraq

September 21, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of September 12–18, 2005.

• Time to Change Course in Iraq?
• Public Opinion on Public Education

September 14, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of September 5–11, 2005.

• End of the Bush Era?
• Public Opinion on Universal Health Care

September 7, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of August 29–September 4, 2005.

• Between Iraq and a Hard Place
• Public Opinion on Health Care Costs

August 31, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the weeks of August 22 –28, 2005.

• Labor Day, 2005: Workers Are Unhappy Campers
• And It’s Not Just Workers: It’s a Nation of Unhappy Campers

August 24, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the weeks of July 25–August 21, 2005.

• Bush’s First Sub-40 Approval Rating
• More Hispanics, More Democratic
• Weighting by Party Identification: Why to Do It and How to Do It

July 27, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of July 18-24, 2005.

• Main Political Supports of Bush Presidency Seriously Weakened
• Whites Moving Away from GOP

July 20, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of July 11–17, 2005.

• No Rally Effect for Bush
• It’s the (Message about the) Economy, Stupid

July 13, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of July 4-10, 2005.

• The Growth of Antiwar Sentiment
• Did the London Bombings Increase Support for the Iraq War?
• Meanwhile, Back on the Economic Front

July 7, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of June 27–July 6, 2005.

• Bush’s Speech Fails to Stop His Slide in the Polls
• Youth Say: Bad Bush, No Biscuit!
• Sure, Hispanics Are Important, But You’ve Still Got to Do Most of Your Hunting Where
  Most of the Ducks Are

June 29, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of June 20–26, 2005.

• Bush Continues to Weaken
• Hispanics Poised to Move Democratic

June 22, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of June 6-June 19, 2005.

• Can Bush's First Sub-40 Percent Approval Rating Be Far Away?
• Bush Losing His Strong Suit

June 8, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of May 30-June 5, 2005.

• Democrats and the Middle Class
• How Big Is the White Working Class Vote?

June 1, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of May 23-29, 2005.

• Can the Democrats Become the Party of Change?
• Demographic Groups and Turnout in the 2004 Election

• Like Ouch, Man
• Hunting for EVs
• It’s a White Protestant Thing, You Wouldn’t Understand

May 18, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of May 9-15, 2005.

• Democratic Potential among White Working Class Voters
• Political Capital? What Political Capital?
• New Polls Bring New Lows for Bush

May 11, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of May 2-8, 2005.

• Has Bush Turned the Corner?
• Once Again on the White Working Class
• Once Again on Party Identification and Likely Voters

May 4, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of April 25-May 4, 2005.

• Generation Y and American Politics
• Revolt of the Middle?
• Economic Pessimism Continues to Grow
• Oh Sure, Telling People You Want to Cut Their Benefits Will Certainly Turn These Numbers Around

April 27, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of April 18-24, 2005.

• Energy and Environment? Now That You Mention It, He's Doing a Bad Job There, Too
• How Low Can He Go?
• The Case of Pennsylvania
• A Crisis of Confidence?

April 20, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of April 11-17, 2005.

• What Do American Voters Really Think About National Security and Foreign Policy Issues?
• The Jewish Vote in 2004
• Bush's Seventeenth-Quarter Approval Ratings Lag Far Behind His Predecessors
• One More Economic Problem: Consumer Credit Worries

April 13, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of April 4-10, 2005.

• Mr. Unpopularity
• Can You Say "Dead"? I Think You Can!
• Higher Gas Prices Hit Middle Class

April 6, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of March 29-April 3, 2005.

• ISO White Catholics
• Bush Hits New Lows in Time/SRBI poll
• Three Strikes and You're Out?

March 23, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of March 14-20, 2005.

• Public Still Dislikes Iraq War and the State of the Economy
• Bush Approval Ratings Hit the Skids in New Newsweek Poll
• Does the Public Support ANWR Oil Exploration?
• Once Again on the 2004 NEP Exit Poll

March 16, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of March 7-14, 2005.

• Where the Public Wants the Money Spent
• Social Security: What Part of "No" Don't You Understand?

March 9, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of February 28-March 6, 2005.

• Unpopular from Coast to Coast
• Military Voters, Black Voters, Hispanic Voters

March 2, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of February 21-27, 2005.

• Bush's Approval Ratings Decline as Support for His Social Security Plan Heads South
• Where Have All the Southern White Moderates Gone?
• Outside of a Small Circle of Friends

February 23, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of February 14-20, 2005.

• Don't Think Rural, Think "Micropolitan"
• What Happened in the South in Bush's 2004 Election Victory?
• Social Security: Son of "That Dog That Won't Hunt"
• Once Again on the Party ID Question

February 16, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of February 7-13, 2005.

• It's the White Working Class, Stupid
• Social Security: That Dog Won't Hunt Department
• Will the Real Party Preferences of the American Electorate Please Stand Up?

February 9, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of January 31-February 6.

• Independents and Young People (Not to Mention the General Public)
• Display Little Enthusiasm for Bush's Social Security Plan
• 2004 National Election Pool Exit Poll Data Now Available
• What do Democrats Stand For?

February 2, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of January 24-30, 2005.

• Public Not With the Bush Program
• Voters on Bush's Social Security Program: Thanks, but No Thanks
• Yes, Virginia, Question Wording Does Matter
• That Cleared Up Everything, Right?

January 26, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of January 17-23, 2005.

• A Nation of Unhappy Campers
• The Public's Health Care Agenda

January 19, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of January 10-17, 2005.

• Pre-Inauguration Blues
• Democrats and Single Women

January 12, 2005
Covering polls and related articles from the week of January 3-9, 2005.

• More on Exurbia
• Is It All out White People with Kids?
• Mr. Popularity
• Show Them the Money: How the Democrats Can Take Back the House

Ruy Teixeira is a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation and the Center for American Progress. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Click here to sign up to receive weekly e-mails of POW.