The Week in Polls: July 21
President Obama is winning on economic issues.
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The Debt Ceiling Debate - President Obama is winning the argument over the debt limit. According to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 38 percent said the debt ceiling should be raised, versus 31 percent who said it shouldn't. Fifty-eight percent of respondents, including 88 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of independent voters, say they favor Obama’s “balanced” approach of spending cuts and taxes. In addition, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 58 percent of Republicans think the GOP isn’t doing enough to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling.
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Economy vs. National Debt - Americans are feeling more pessimistic than ever about their prospects for finding a good job. Nine in 10 of respondents to a Gallup Poll survey said that now is not a good time to find a quality job. In addition, 31 percent say that the economy is the nation’s most pressing problem, while 27 percent and 16 percent, respectively, say that unemployment/jobs or the federal deficit/debt is more important.
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Republican Field - Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani are still toying with the idea of throwing their hats into the GOP presidential nomination race, but they’re scoring high with supporters. In a Gallup poll, Perry tied with Rep. Michele Bachmann in “positive intensity” at 21 percent, while Giuliani came in just one point below them. Herman Cain, at 25 percent, remains on top, but that might change following his controversial comments about Islam and Mormonism this week.
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Obama vs. Romney - In the latest Public Policy Polling survey, President Obama has some work to do to beat former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. The GOP presidential hopeful is tied with Obama at 45 percent. The bad news for the president is that independents were split against him by a 44/49 margin. Meanwhile, 16 percent of Democrats are unhappy with the job he's doing, and only 10 percent of Republicans give him good marks.
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Obama, the Middle Class and Small Businesses - An overwhelming majority of Americans believe that the president cares more about middle class families and their financial concerns than Republicans in Congress do, a Washington Post-ABC News poll has found, by a margin of 53 percent to 35 percent. Small businesses also believe that Obama is more interested in protecting their interests than the GOP, by 48 percent to 39 percent.
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