It's make-or-break time for the Voting Rights Act and similar legislation in Congress. President Biden has thrown the weight of his office into the debate, but what do Americans think of the issues and how important is it to them? And, the Omicron surge drives a new pessimism as it quickly spreads across the country.
This week, President Joe Biden travelled to Georgia hoping to advance voting rights legislation that's been stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate for months. At the same time, a small bipartisan group is working on a more limited proposal. Where are Americans on all of this? A new Morning Consult/Politico poll shows broad support for every component of the main proposals, BUT the issue of voting rights in general is not a priority right now. That does not mean all Americans are on the same page, however, as we discovered in our NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll from late last year.
Then, the COVID Omicron surge has spread faster and farther than even the initial wave. Vaccines have kept the death rate much lower but infections and hospitalizations in many places are higher than ever. The third time is certainly not a charm for Americans, especially in how they see the government's handling of it. We dig into several polls to see just how exhausted America is over COVID as we approach year 3 of the pandemic.
For this week's fun fact, we go back to 1997 for a cookie quiz. Mmmmm. Delish!
About Poll Hub
Each week, Poll Hub goes behind the science to explain how polling works, what polls really show, and what the numbers really mean. Poll Hub is produced by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, home of America’s leading independent college public opinion poll, the Marist Poll.
Lee Miringoff (Director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion), Barbara Carvalho (Director of the Marist Poll), and Jay DeDapper (Director of Innovation at the Marist Poll) dig deep to give you a look at the inner workings of polls and what they tell us about our world, our country, and ourselves.