Poll

A Gallup poll conducted at the beginning of October shows that more Americans support the legalization of marijuana than ever before — even if the majority still think it should be illegal.

A new SurveyUSA poll released on Thursday shows a solid majority of Americans back a public option as part of health care reform. Seventy-seven percent said it was extremely important or quite important that health reform efforts include a public option along with maintaining the private insurance infrastructure.

A new poll suggests Sen.-elect Al Franken would have trouble following President Barack Obama’s vault from a single Senate-election victory to the White House. Beyond that, it’s not clear why it matters that 44 percent of voters across the country have an unfavorable view of the Democrat or that 34 percent like him at least “somewhat.” [...]

A SurveyUSA/KSTP poll released this week shows a high level of support in Minnesota for the recognition of same-sex couples. Sixty-four percent of respondents said the state should offer same-sex marriage or civil unions. Only 34 percent said same-sex couples should have no legal relationship rights.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s job-approval rating is on such a steep decline — dropping 10 percentage points in three months — that it’s on track to dip even lower than the pluralities by which he was elected.

Barack Obama remains popular with Minnesotans, according to new SurveyUSA poll results. Sixty-two percent of Minnesotans approve of the president, while 32 percent disapprove. Six percent are on the fence.
That 62 percent remains steady from January, which is a bit of an anomaly. From Smart Politics: “In Minnesota, however, approval of Obama’s performance fell by [...]

As President Obama and the Minnesota Legislature both look at ways to reform health care, a new poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation last week found that a majority of Americans are scrimping on health care to make ends meet. Some are skipping dental visits; others are cutting pills in half to stretch out [...]

A majority of Americans want the government to issue national health insurance as opposed to insurance from private insurance companies, according to a New York Times/CBS poll released Monday. Government issued health insurance has become a hot issue in Minnesota as the Minnesota Health Plan Act, a bill that would make Minnesota the sole insurance [...]

Another day brings another post-recount poll of Minnesotans about the U.S. Senate contenders, the recount process itself and what should happen next. According to a Daily Kos-Research 2000 survey, 47 percent of voters support seating Al Franken in the Senate (at least provisionally) and oppose former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman’s legal challenge to the recount. Though conducted only a day or two after a similar poll by Survey USA for KSTP-TV, the Daily Kos results show some intriguing differences.

One scenario in the Minnesota Senate recount has the U.S. Senate ordering a new election to help them decide whether to seat Democrat Al Franken or Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. Another scenario leaves the decision to voters in a new election to be held late next year after the vacancy is temporarily filled by an appointee of Gov. Tim Pawlenty. But a re-run of the Nov. 4 election wouldn’t be any more conclusive than the original was, according to a new poll that Survey USA conducted for KSTP-TV.