Opinion Today
August 16, 2022
Public Divided on Student COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup As U.S. students begin the 2022-2023 school year, Americans are mostly divided on whether students at all levels of education should be required to have COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of in-person attendance. Slightly less than half of Americans, 48%, believe elementary students should be vaccinated in order to attend classes, while slim majorities favor vaccinations for middle school, high school and college students.
Americans Not Convinced Marijuana Benefits Society Lydia Saad, Gallup Americans are evenly split in their views about marijuana's effect on society, with 49% considering it positive and 50% negative. They are slightly more positive about the drug's effect on people who use it, with 53% saying it's positive and 45% negative. New Hampshire: GOP lead on generic ballot continues to narrow in Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll Ann Camann, Saint Anselm College The political environment has remained poor but stable for incumbent officeholders. Only 39% of voters believe that Senator Hassan deserves re-election. 38% of CD-1 voters believe that Congressman Pappas deserves re-election, unchanged since March, while 36% of CD-2 voters believe that Congresswoman Kuster deserves re-election, up 3 points since March. Georgia: Republicans Lead Across the Board Due to Suburban Support The Phillips Academy Poll From August 3–7, The Phillips Academy Poll polled 971 Registered Voters in Georgia and found Republicans leading in races across the board with the support of suburban voters. These 13 Wyoming Voters Are Ready to Decide Liz Cheney’s Fate Katherine Miller & Adrian J. Rivera, New York Times Like many Republicans who voted to impeach the former president Donald Trump, Representative Liz Cheney is expected to lose her primary on Tuesday. Before that primary, we convened a focus group of people who plan to vote in it to talk about Wyoming, Ms. Cheney, her Trump-backed opponent Harriet Hageman and the Republican Party.
Cheney’s fate in Wyoming is a final test of Trump’s hold over the GOP Ronald Brownstein, CNN Rep. Liz Cheney’s uphill battle to keep her seat in Wyoming’s GOP primary on Tuesday underscores how Donald Trump’s hold on the Republican Party is tightening even as the former President’s legal challenges are mounting. That dynamic poses stark choices for the thin band of Republican elected officials and voters resistant to his dominance within the party. Will Cheney And Murkowski Survive Their Trump-Backed Primary Challenges? Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight And 4 other elections to watch in Alaska and Wyoming. Democrats are focusing the midterms on the GOP. Republicans should welcome it. Henry Olsen, Washington Post Party-focused campaigns have helped deliver some of the GOP’s largest election wins. President Biden’s record unpopularity gives Republicans a chance for a landslide win. Running a strong, nationwide television campaign for the entire party could seal it for them. Why Republicans Turned Against the Environment Paul Krugman, New York Times Those people hoping for bipartisan efforts on climate are probably deluding themselves. Environmental protection is now part of the culture war, and neither policy details nor rational argument matters. Texas dominates the United States’ list of places for good barbecue Linley Sanders, YouGov A YouGov poll of 1,000 U.S. adult citizens that asked which states are associated with good BBQ finds that Texas sweeps past all other contenders to earn the overall title. Why Have Democrats’ Odds Of Winning The Senate Improved? FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast In the past week, Democrats’ odds of keeping control of the Senate after the midterms have ticked up to around 60 percent, according to our Deluxe forecast model. In this installment of “Model Talk” on the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, Nate Silver and Galen Druke discuss the news events and polling that have contributed to this change.