The Weekend Polling Report

NATIONAL–APPROVAL RATING–IMMIGRATION–ABC News/Washington Post poll: 49 percent approve of President Obama’s efforts on immigration, vs. 43 percent disapproving. On a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants: 55 percent support while 41 percent oppose. More border security: 83 percent support, 15 percent oppose.

Specifically, 67 percent of Hispanics and 71 percent of nonwhites overall approve of Obama’s handling of immigration, compared with 38 percent of whites. And a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants is supported by 82 percent of Hispanics and 71 percent of all nonwhites, as well as by nearly seven in 10 Democrats and just over half of independents. It’s supported by fewer than half of whites, 47 percent; Republicans, 42 percent; and by just 37 percent of adults who describe themselves as very conservative politically.

NATIONAL–IDEOLOGY–Gallup: More Americans identified as conservative than liberal in 2012, 38% to 23%, compared with 40% to 21% in 2011, a four-point swing in favor of liberals. The percentage of self-identified moderates remained unchanged, at 36%.

NATIONAL–TRUST IN MEDIA–PPP: Fox is both the most trusted media source and the least trusted at the same time.

41% of voters trust it to 46% who do not. To put those numbers into some perspective the first time we did this poll, in 2010, 49% of voters trusted it to 37% who did not. Fox has maintained most of its credibility with Republicans, dropping just from 74/15 to 70/15 over that period of time. But it’s been losing what standing it had with Democrats (from 30/52 to 22/66) and independents (from 41/44 to 32/56).

PBS is the only network that has a majority of Americans trusting it. No wonder Republicans want to defund it.

PENNSYLVANIA–GOVERNOR–APPROVAL RATINGS–Franklin & Marshall College Poll: Governor Tom Corbett Governor’s approval ratings are the lowest of his tenure with only one in four
(26%) registered voters believing he is doing an “excellent” or “good” job. Only two in five (41%) Republicans, one in four (26%) independents, and one in six (16%) Democrats rate his performance as “excellent” or “good.” So it looks like he is in prime position to be thrown out of office in 2014. But first, a credible Democrat needs to step up and run against him. Corbett’s defeat would buck the history of the Keystone state, which tends to give all their Governors two terms, and it always alternates parties every eight years.

PENNSYLVANIA–GUN CONTROL–Franklin & Marshall College Poll: Shockingly, the hunting state favors gun control. Pennsylvania residents favor universal background checks for gun purchases (94%), banning high-capacity magazines (61%), banning assault weapons (61%), and limiting handgun purchases to one per month (61%).

NATIONAL–STATES’ IDEOLOGY–“>Gallup: Alabama was the most conservative state in 2012, with 51% of residents identifying that way, followed by North Dakota and Wyoming with 49% each and Mississippi and Utah with 48% each. The District of Columbia was the most liberal, with 41% of residents identifying that way, followed by Massachusetts in a distant second with 31%, Oregon and Vermont with 29% each and a bunch of states clustered around 28% each.

Where does Delaware rank? Here are Gallup’s top ten most conservative and top ten most liberal states in the union.

Top 10 Most Conservative
1. Alabama–50.6% conservative
2. North Dakota (tie)–48.6%
2. Wyoming (tie)–48.6%
4. Mississippi–48.2%
5. Utah–48.0%
6. Oklahoma–47.3%
7. Idaho–47.1%
8. Louisiana–45.6%
9. Nebraska (tie)–45.3%
9. Arkansas (tie)–45.5%

Top 10 Most Liberal
1. District of Columbia–40.8% liberal
2. Massachusetts 30.5%
3. Oregon 29.3%
4. Vermont 29.2%
5. Delaware (tie)–28.4%
5. Connecticut (tie)–28.4%
6.Washington (tie)–28.3%
6. Rhode Island (tie)–28.3%
7. Hawaii (tie)–27.7%
7. New York (tie)–27.7%

KENTUCKY–PRESIDENT–PPP: Hillary Clinton has a 48/42 favorability rating with Kentucky voters. Hillary would defeat Rand Paul 47-42 and Marco Rubio 48-40. The reason why is that Hillary would win over the conservative Democrats who refused to support Obama, Kerry, and Gore. Remember, Bill Clinton won Kentucky twice.

IOWA–SENATE–REPUBLICAN PRIMARY–Wenzel StrategiesIn a two way matchup, King leads Lantham, 43-35.

IOWA–SENATE–REPUBLICAN PRIMARY–PPP: King 41, Lantham 22, Reynolds 10, Vander Plaats 9.

In a head to head matchup between King and Lantham, King leads 50 to 27.

IOWA–SENATE–PPP: Rep. Bruce Braley (D) 49, King (R) 38; Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack (D) 49, King 39; former Governor Chet Culver 48, King 41, Rep. Dave Loebsack 47, King 40.

PPP tested a host of possible D v. R matchups, with the other Democratic candidates being Chet Culver, Tom Vilsack and Dave Loebsack, and the Democrats lead in all matchups except for small leads for Rep. Tom Latham (R) over Chet Culver and Dave Loebsack.

IOWA–SENATE–Des Moines Register poll: A majority of Iowa voters think former Governor and current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (D) would be an appealing Senate candidate, 56% to 35%.

Said pollster Ann Selzer: “This is the kind of poll finding that launches campaigns.”