Newsweek magazine recently conducted a survey to test American's basic knowledge of citizenship by asking 1,000 current citizens to take the official US citizenship exam.  The results were about what you would expect in a country where the education system has spent progressively less and less time on history and civics.  In other words, awful.

Among the survey's more interesting findings:

• Forty-four percent couldn't define the Bill of Rights
• Seventy-three percent didn't know why we fought the Cold War
• Twenty-nine percent couldn't name the Vice-President
• Six percent couldn't circle Independence Day on a calendar

Gallup has a new survey out which shows that, in terms of partisan affiliation, the number of "solid" Democrats states is down by half since they conducted a similar survey in 2008.  The same survey also showed the number of "competitive" states almost doubling.

They point out that every state (including the District of Columbia) now has fewer people identifying themselves as Democrats, or even independents who "lean" Democrat.  Interestingly, the greatest percentages of declines came in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Hawaii.  Hawaii aside, those others represent the north-eastern states where Republicans had been becoming a rare species.

In terms of numbers, "solid" Democrats states went from 30 in 2008 down to 14 today, while competitive states went from 10 up to 18.

From the poll:

For the first time ever, a Rasmussen public opinion poll shows more Americans self-identifying themselves as Republicans as opposed to Democrats or independents.

The survey shows 36% of adults identifying themselves as Republicans, with 35% calling themselves Democrats, and 29% independents.  What makes this numbers even more interesting is that the poll applies to "all Americans", not just "registered voters", or "likely voters", (which are almost always more Republican in their responses that the general public).

After the 2008 presidential elections, Democrats had an almost 8% advantage over Republicans in the same poll, which points to a net swing of 9% since Obama became President.

The poll also notes that the number of self-identified Democrats is only just above the lowest level ever recorded.

The biggest reason for this result would seem to be that voters continue to trust Republicans more on key issues than Democrats...but even this has a lot to do with just a plain, old-fashioned rejection of Obama and the Congressional Democrats agenda of the past two years.

Over eight months after the passage of ObamaCare by a super-slim majority, party line vote, 57% of Americans still favor the outright repeal of the law, according to the latest survey from Rasmussen.  Further, about half of the public believes that the law will eventually force them to change their own insurance plan or cause them to lose it, which is of course what Obama (repeatedly) promised everyone would not be the case.

Again, this is over eight months after passage of the bill; a lapse of time that Democrats thought would allow the opposition to "settle down", especially after everyone saw all the wonderful things that the bill did for them.

Gallup has just reported its latest "generic ballot" numbers, (where potential voters are asked which party they intend to vote for in the next election).

The results are historic, with Republicans taking their biggest lead in the sixty year history of the Gallup poll.

The latest polls from Gallup continue to bear bad news liberals hoping the Democrats will retain power in Congress after the upcoming elections.

Gallup's latest "generic ballot" poll, where respondents are asked which party they intend to vote for in the next election, has the Republicans up by six points, (49% to 43%).

The current six-percentage-point Republican lead ties the largest for either party so far, although Republicans have generally tied or held an advantage over Democrats since Gallup began tracking the generic ballot in March. The major exception to this prevailing pattern came July 12-25, when Democrats moved ahead with six- and four-point weekly advantages. ...

Republicans historically enjoy a turnout advantage in midterm elections, meaning that a final pre-election registered-voter margin either tied or tilting in the GOP's direction would almost certainly translate into major Republican seat gains. This possibility is underscored by Republicans' substantial advantage in enthusiasm over Democrats so far this year. ...

The chart below shows the generic poll results since March of this year:

A new study was just concluded that took a look at how well people understood basic facts of economics, then asked them about their politics.  When the results of the economics quiz were cross-referenced with the politics of the respondents, the results seemed to bear out what conservatives have said about liberals for years - they just don't understand economics.

But now we have some researchers backing up our intuitions and
observations who hail from a place that's overwhelmed
with liberal thought - academia.

(via the Washington Times)

Americans describing themselves as conservative, very conservative and libertarian "do reasonably well" when asked about basic economic questions involving supply, demand and the effects of regulation, concluded Mr. Klein, an economics professor at George Mason University, and Ms. Buturovic, an associate researcher with the polling firm Zogby International.

"But the left has trouble squaring economic thinking with their political psychology, morals and aesthetics," the two write.

In the course of the debate over ObamaCare many administration officials and members of the Democrat leadership did their best to twist the arms of fellow Democrats in Congress in order to wrangle a majority and pass the bill.  Part of their argument in their efforts to convince those Democrats was that, once the bill became law, it would become more popular than it was at the time because, they said, Republicans and Fox News were just being temporarily successful in demonizing the bill.  Better days were ahead.

So how's that working out?  Well, according to the latest poll - not to mention one conducted by James Carville - not too good.

The most recent Democracy Corps poll, (done by James Carville and Stan Greenberg) shows NO BOUNCE whatsoever for Obama in the wake of the health care bill becoming law.  Part of their analysis states:

There's a new poll out by Fox News/Opinion Dynamics which, if you're an elected official, probably won't give you warm, fuzzy feelings.  If you're an average American however, it will probably seem all too familiar.

The bottom line?  A majority of Americans have lost faith in government.  In fact, it's a pretty large majority.  The poll finds that 58% of voters say that the government is "broken".  Only 9% say it's working "pretty well", while 30% believe that government functions "just okay".  Of course, the differences are more pronounced when you take party ID into account, as 75% of Republicans see the government as "broken", but only 37% of Democrats would agree.

But what's more interesting is how the all important "independents" see things.  And, given that independents are usually the balance of power in most elections, the news isn't good for politicians.  The results show an incredible 69% of independents agreeing with the notion that government is "broken".  Better still one out of ever six voters consider themselves to be a part of the Tea Party movement.

Now that last week's big health care "summit" has come and gone, it's a good time to take a look at what kind of impact it had on American public opinion about the Democrat's proposed reforms.

Short answer?  Still opposed.  The latest survey by Rasmussen shows 52% of voters opposed and 44% in favor.  And remember, that's AFTER all the fluff coverage it received from the summit.

The more interesting numbers however, (and the ones that the politicians up for reelection this year should pay attention to), are those that demonstrate the passion and intensity people have about the issue.  The survey shows 43% of voters being "strongly opposed", with only 22% "strongly in favor".

Not good for Democrats who have voted for it already, much less thinking about using the budget reconciliation process to get around a filibuster and pass it with a simple majority in Congress.

Some other interesting items: