Polls of the Week: Aug. 2

Super PACs remain confusing among voters, plus more.

Americans Weigh In - Congress loses a popularity contest, the number of interracial marriages in the United States reaches all-time high, President Obama gets kudos for fiscal cliff dealings, plus more national polls. – Joyce Jones and Britt Middleton

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America Weighs In - Americans grapple over the meaning of a Super PAC, Colorado shooting massacre remains top news story, Olympic fever sweeps America, plus more. – Joyce Jones and Britt Middleton.

Super What?  - Despite warnings from liberal quarters that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the groups that are backing him financially are trying to buy the election, a majority of American voters have no idea what a super PAC is. A Pew Research Center poll released Aug. 2 found that only 25 percent of respondents said they've heard a lot about the outside spending groups and 46 percent said they don't know what the term "super PAC" means. (Photos from left: Win McNamee/Getty Images, Spencer Platt/Getty Images, GettyImages)

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Super What?  - Despite warnings from liberal quarters that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the groups that are backing him financially are trying to buy the election, a majority of American voters have no idea what a super PAC is. A Pew Research Center poll released Aug. 2 found that only 25 percent of respondents said they've heard a lot about the outside spending groups and 46 percent said they don't know what the term "super PAC" means. (Photos from left: Win McNamee/Getty Images, Spencer Platt/Getty Images, GettyImages)

Not Feeling the Love - Given how tight the presidential race is, Romney undoubtedly is a formidable opponent, but just because some voters say they're going to vote for him, it doesn't mean they're going to like it. A Pew Research Center poll has found that voters have an unfavorable view of Romney by 52 to 37 percent. The survey, released Aug. 2, was taken before his trip overseas. By contrast, Obama's favorable/unfavorable ratio is 50 to 45 percent, but, according to Pew, still "lower than the pre-election ratings of most other recent presidential candidates." (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Not Feeling the Love - Given how tight the presidential race is, Romney undoubtedly is a formidable opponent, but just because some voters say they're going to vote for him, it doesn't mean they're going to like it. A Pew Research Center poll has found that voters have an unfavorable view of Romney by 52 to 37 percent. The survey, released Aug. 2, was taken before his trip overseas. By contrast, Obama's favorable/unfavorable ratio is 50 to 45 percent, but, according to Pew, still "lower than the pre-election ratings of most other recent presidential candidates." (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Democratic Downers - Bad news on the Democratic front: The results of a Gallup poll published last week shows that Democrats' enthusiasm has sharply declined since 2008. The poll found that just 39 percent say they are "more enthusiastic about voting than usual" in the 2012 election than they were in 2004 and 2008. Conversely, 51 percent of Republicans are significantly more enthusiastic than they were in 2008 and feeling the excitement of 2004. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Taxes, Not So Much - What are American voters' top items on any president's to-do list? Creating good jobs, reducing federal government corruption and lowering the federal deficit are extremely important to 48, 45 and 44 percent of Americans, according to a Gallup poll published July 30. Environmental concerns like global warming and increasing taxes on the wealthy bottomed the list, each at 21 percent. (Photo: Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

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Taxes, Not So Much - What are American voters' top items on any president's to-do list? Creating good jobs, reducing federal government corruption and lowering the federal deficit are extremely important to 48, 45 and 44 percent of Americans, according to a Gallup poll published July 30. Environmental concerns like global warming and increasing taxes on the wealthy bottomed the list, each at 21 percent. (Photo: Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

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A House Divided - Americans tend to live in neighborhoods with people of similar economic status, a trend that has increased over the past 30 years, according to a Pew Center study released Aug. 2. Twenty-eight percent of lower-income households in 2010 were found in neighborhoods where at least half the residents were also lower income, up from 23 percent in 1980, while 18 percent of upper-income households were located in neighborhoods of the same income bracket, up from 9 percent in 1980. (Photos from left: REUTERS/Lee Celano, Frank Casimiro/Getty Images)

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A House Divided - Americans tend to live in neighborhoods with people of similar economic status, a trend that has increased over the past 30 years, according to a Pew Center study released Aug. 2. Twenty-eight percent of lower-income households in 2010 were found in neighborhoods where at least half the residents were also lower income, up from 23 percent in 1980, while 18 percent of upper-income households were located in neighborhoods of the same income bracket, up from 9 percent in 1980. (Photos from left: REUTERS/Lee Celano, Frank Casimiro/Getty Images)

Cease and Desist - The National Rifle Association has reached a new low, said two Connecticut senators after learning that the powerful gun lobbying group has been making robocalls to residents of Newtown. In a letter demanding it stop, they wrote, "In a community that's still very much in crisis, to be making these calls opens a wound that these families are still trying hard to heal."  (Photo: Getty Images/STOCK)

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Can You Hear Me Now? - Even with the inception of 4G technology and apps that can perform nearly every task imaginable, it still seems Americans can't get around one unexplained phenomenon: dropped calls while talking on their cellphones. In an Aug. 2 Pew Center poll, 72 percent of people said they experience them occasionally, with 32 percent reporting it happens at least a few times a week.  (Photo: GettyImages)

Americans Keep Close Eye on Colorado Shooting  - Between July 26 and 29, Americans were most captivated by news about the deadly shooting spree at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, with 41 percent reporting in a Pew Center poll that they followed the story closely.  Separately, 32 percent said they focused on the U.S. economy, 25 percent focused on the 2012 presidential election and 19 percent focused on the London Olympics. (Photo: EPA/BOB PEARSON /LANDOV)

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Americans Keep Close Eye on Colorado Shooting  - Between July 26 and 29, Americans were most captivated by news about the deadly shooting spree at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, with 41 percent reporting in a Pew Center poll that they followed the story closely.  Separately, 32 percent said they focused on the U.S. economy, 25 percent focused on the 2012 presidential election and 19 percent focused on the London Olympics. (Photo: EPA/BOB PEARSON /LANDOV)

Supermarket Sweep - In an Aug. 2 Gallup poll, Americans said they spend $150 on food on an average week compared to $106 a week in 1987, the last time Gallup asked this question. The polling organization has asked a version of this question since 1943 — back then Americans reported spending just $15 a week on food. (Photo: Orlando Sentinel/ MCT /LANDOV)

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Supermarket Sweep - In an Aug. 2 Gallup poll, Americans said they spend $150 on food on an average week compared to $106 a week in 1987, the last time Gallup asked this question. The polling organization has asked a version of this question since 1943 — back then Americans reported spending just $15 a week on food. (Photo: Orlando Sentinel/ MCT /LANDOV)

Jeff Gadley - Along with Davenport, Jeff Gadley became one of the first African-Americans to compete at the Winter Olympics. A former track star, he also competed in the Summer Olympics.(Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

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All Around the Tube - The majority of Americans (85 percent) said in a July 27 Gallup poll that they plan to watch the London Olympics only on television. Interestingly, just 4 percent said they will do so primarily online even though for the first time ever, all of the Olympic events are being streamed online via NBC. (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)