Polls - Rasmussen Reports

Over half of U.S. voters (51%) think reporters are trying to hurt Sarah Palin with their news coverage, and 24% say those stories make them more likely to vote for Republican presidential candidate John McCain in November.

Voters by a substantial majority think a woman is likely to be elected president of the United States in the next 10 years, and nearly half (48%) think Hillary Clinton is at least somewhat likely to be the one.

Voters, by a 56% to 26% margin, say Barack Obama is a better potential president than the Democratic Party's 2004 nominee, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey also found that, by a 48% to 28% margin, voters say John McCain is a better potential president than the Republican who has held the job for eight years, George W. Bush.

Three out of four Democrats (74%) say the party's ongoing national convention has unified them as they roll out now in full force to put their nominee, Barack Obama, in the White House. Just 14% think the convention has not unified them.

Bill Clinton is expected to talk about himself at the Democratic National Convention tonight and then leave town before Barack Obama's acceptance speech. But just over half of Democrats believe there is no animosity between the two men and that the former president wants Obama to win.

Nearly half of Democratic women (47%) say Barack Obama should have chosen Hillary Clinton for his running mate instead of Senator Joseph Biden as the former First Lady prepares to speak tonight at the Democratic National Convention. Thirty-nine percent (39%) disagree.

On the day that Barack Obama announced Joe Biden as his running mate, 39% of voters said he made the right choice. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 25% disagreed and another 35% are not sure.

With energy policy at the center of the current presidential campaign, voters believe electric or hybrid cars and nuclear power plants are more likely than solar or wind power to significantly reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Biofuels such as ethanol are seen as even less likely to help.

The presidential race in New Hampshire is now a toss-up. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that Barack Obama's once-double-digit lead over John McCain is down to a statistically insignificant one-point lead, 43% to 42%.

Ohio, the ultimate swing state in Election 2004, continues to lean in John McCain's direction, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of voters in the state.

While confusion continues to reign in Georgia as to Russia's intentions there and NATO prepares to get into the act, 50% of Americans believe the United Nations should send peacekeepers to the region, but only 22% say U.S. troops should be involved.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows Barack Obama attracting 44% of the vote while John McCain earns 43%. When "leaners" are included, it's Obama 47% and McCain 46% (see recent daily results). Tracking Polls are released at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time each day (Premium Members can see more at the Daily Snapshot). Sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it's free).

Senator Tom Coburn is unknown to most Americans, but the strange workings of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics could end up making the Oklahoma Republican far more popular than he is today. The numbers in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey also highlight the huge gap between the culture of Washington and the American people.

One third of voters nationwide (33%) agree with Barack Obama that allowing Senator Hillary Clinton's name to also be placed in nomination at the Democratic National Convention will "help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong united fashion." But slightly more (40%) believe it will hurt party unity.

It's hard to imagine a closer political race than the battle for Virginia's Electoral College votes.

Six out of 10 Americans (61%) say Congress should return to Washington immediately to vote on lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But voters overwhelmingly expect Congress to adjourn this year without taking action.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) support going ahead with offshore oil drilling, an issue that John McCain seized on in early June as a way to help lower gas prices and has since forced Barack Obama to at least partially agree with.

Voters overwhelmingly believe that politicians will "break the rules to help people who give them a lot of money," but most say there's a bigger problem in politics today—media bias.

The number of Americans who believe getting the troops home from Iraq is more important than winning the war there has fallen below 50% for the first time since Rasmussen Reports began polling on the question in May.