Latest news with #DataforProgress
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
More US voters want aid for Gaza than weapons for Israel: Poll
A new poll by Data for Progress shows that far more people in the US want to see their government send humanitarian aid to Gaza than weapons to Israel. The survey was carried out among 1,227 likely US voters who self-identified their party affiliation. Broken down by party, a majority of Democrats want to see humanitarian aid for Gaza prioritised over arms transfers to Israel. The opposite is true for Republicans. When asked if Israel is committing human rights abuses against Palestinians, most Democrats agree, but most Republicans disagree. Independents appear to land somewhere between the two sides. When that same question was asked back in May, not as many Democrats were convinced, but August's survey shows a significant increase in Democrats who believe Israel is carrying out abuses in Gaza.
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Will pro-Trump Latinos vote Republican in the 2026 midterms? A new poll casts doubts
A quarter of Latinos who supported President Donald Trump in the November election are not guaranteed to vote for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections, according to a new national poll by Equis, a leading research and polling group. Last week Equis, alongside progressive think tank Data for Progress, released a July memo that summarized key findings from a national poll of 1,614 registered voters, conducted between July 7 and July 17. This time frame coincides with some notable turning points in politics: namely, when Trump signed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' into law, as well as his execution of mass deportations and controversial handling of the Epstein files. Respondents were asked, 'If the 2026 election for United States Congress were held today, for whom would you vote?' Only 27% replied that they would vote for a Republican candidate, marking a significant political party drop from the 45% who said they voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. A quarter of those polled said they were not sure whom they would vote for (16%), would vote for someone else (5%), or would not vote at all (4%). This shaky political alignment comes at a critical time for Republicans, who are banking on continual Latino support in 2026 — especially as Texas Republicans plan to flip five blue seats under a newly proposed congressional map. The Equis study also found that 63% of Latinos disapproved of Trump's job as president in July, a slight uptick from polling numbers in May, when 60% disapproved. This rating seems to reflect broader sentiments regarding the state of the U.S. economy: 64% of Latinos rated the economy as 'somewhat or very poor,' while only 34% viewed it as 'somewhat or very good.' However, a disapproval of Trump does not mean Latinos have rushed to back the Democratic Party. Half the Latinos polled said Democrats care more about people like them, versus the 25% who said Republicans care more. Meanwhile, 17% said they believe that neither party cares. Swing voters — including those who Equis calls 'Biden defectors,' or voters who elected Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024 — are twice as likely to say that neither party cares about people like them (38%). 'Growing dissatisfaction with Trump offers Democrats an opportunity, but only if they are willing to capitalize on it,' the July memo states. Overall, Trump's national approval ratings are taking a nosedive, according to aggregate polling by the New York Times, which notes that Trump's approach to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation has angered his base. On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department for the files; lawmakers believe they could implicate Trump and other former top officials in the sex-trafficking investigation. Trump's anti-immigration policies have also likely shifted his popularity. Early July Gallup polling revealed that Americans have grown more positive toward immigration — 79% of Americans say immigration is a 'good thing' for the country, which marks a 64% increase from last year and a 25-year record high.
The Hill
14-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
GOP Rep. Scott Perry to be challenged by Democrat he defeated in 2024
Democrat and former broadcast journalist Janelle Stelson launched her second challenge against Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) in Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district on Monday. Stelson narrowly lost to Perry by just over one percent in 2024. The highly competitive 10th congressional district has been rated as a toss-up, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. FBI agents seized Perry's cell phone in 2022 in connection with investigations into President Trump. A court later issued a ruling shielding much of the communications on the phone between Perry and other lawmakers from special counsel Jack Smith. Controversies hanging over the 2020 presidential election and the investigation hung over the 2024 race, when Perry won reelection and Trump won Pennsylvania after losing the state in 2020 to former President Biden. A poll conducted earlier this month by the left-leaning Data for Progress on behalf of the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC shows Stelson leading Perry 46 percent to 43 percent. In a statement announcing her campaign, Stelson blasted Perry for voting for President Trump's legislative agenda. 'Scott Perry has spent more than a decade in DC taking votes that hurt us instead of delivering results – and he just sold us out again by casting the deciding vote for the largest Medicaid cuts in history, all to fund more tax cuts for billionaires,' Stelson said in a statement. 'People around here are sick and tired of career politicians like Scott Perry betraying them at every turn. I'm running to give Central Pennsylvanians the voice they deserve and to fight to lower costs, protect Social Security and Medicare, ensure a woman's right to choose and secure the border,' she continued. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) responded to Stelson's entrance into the race in a statement on Monday. 'Welcome back to certified loser Janelle Stelson! If there's one thing we know for sure, it's that Janelle Stelson, who won't even bother to live in the district she wants to represent, doesn't stand a chance against Scott Perry. Pennsylvanians have rejected her before, and they'll gladly do so again in 2026,' NRCC spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole said. Stellson is expected to have the support of the Democratic establishment going into the general election. According to her campaign, Stelson has already secured endorsements from Lt. Gov. Austin Davis (D), state Sen. Patty Kim (D), state Reps. Carol Hill-Evans (D), Dave Madsen (D), and Nate Davidson (D).
Atlantic
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Atlantic
Democrats Need More Hobbies
For most of my adult life, I worked in and around Democratic politics, and my hobby was work. Then, in 2022, I started taking surf lessons and got hooked. In April of 2023, and again last December, I took a trip to an outdoor wave pool in Waco, Texas. If you want to meet the voters who swung toward Donald Trump and put him back in the White House, you could do worse than the hot tub at Waco Surf. I went there with my pickup-truck-driving, Joe Rogan–superfan brother-in-law, and from the moment we arrived, he couldn't have felt more at home, and I couldn't have felt more out of place. At first I couldn't put my finger on what, exactly, made me feel like the odd man out. But I soon developed a theory: The great divide between us is that I constantly think about politics and they do not. Two surf trips are hardly statistically significant. But research corroborates my wave-pool hunch: Democrats are becoming the party of political junkies; Republicans, the party of people who would rather think about anything else. And there are more of the latter than there are of the former. Last November, a poll from Data for Progress asked voters how much attention they paid to news about the election. Among voters who answered 'none at all,' just 32 percent supported Kamala Harris. Among those who paid a great deal of attention to politics, Harris's support shot up to 52 percent. Similarly, according to the research firm Catalist, Harris improved on Joe Biden's 2020 margins among so-called super voters—people who voted in each of the four most recent elections—by a percentage point. The good news for Democrats is that by definition, these voters turn out consistently. The bad news is that the rest of the electorate moved toward Trump by 10 points. The Democratic Party's candidates, donors, staff, and voters are thus caught in a contradiction. Americans' obligation to engage politically—always present in a democracy—has never been greater. President Trump is trampling our system of checks and balances, dismantling our government and institutions, pitting the military against protesters, and putting all Americans at greater risk of disease and natural disaster. These are serious times, and serious measures, including collective action such as the 'No Kings' protests that took place this past Saturday, are warranted. Yet the best hope for defeating authoritarianism remains the ballot box. And to win elections, Democrats have to win back at least some voters who have no interest in becoming more politically engaged. The party is going to need another way to reach people—and perhaps that path goes through activities other than politics. Democrats used to do more to put their hobbies on display. The party's most recent two-term presidents were a saxophone-playing Rhodes Scholar and a pickup-basketball-playing former editor of the Harvard Law Review. I wrote speeches for the latter and can say from experience that President Barack Obama's sports-guy-in-chief persona was not an act. Standing backstage, watching the president ad-lib about the Bears or Bulls, I often got the sense that he found talking rosters or playoff games far more enjoyable than diving into the details of the day's policy announcement. The voters in the audience usually felt the same way. Today's Democrats aren't completely somber. I attended last year's convention in Chicago, where 'Joy' was a campaign slogan and a guest appearance by Lil John turned the roll call into a 23,000-person party. But that's actually a symptom of the problem, not a solution. Democrats focus on making politics fun, when the real question is whether they can have fun outside of politics. Faking hobbies, or trying desperately to appear relatable, won't cut it. It's got to be real. In that respect, the party has taken a giant step backwards during the Trump era. Biden's age and limited schedule didn't just make it harder for him to command the bully pulpit; it meant Americans got fewer chances to see him enjoying himself outside work. In 2020, Harris launched a YouTube cooking show, but it was scrapped by the time she became vice president, and it never returned. In Harris's case, I suspect her campaign worried that women candidates who share too much about their hobbies are quick to be branded as unserious. It's a valid concern. But so, unfortunately, is its opposite. Women candidates who share too little will be branded as being motivated solely by personal ambition. Besides, Democrats now struggle to have fun in public regardless of gender. Make a mental list of the most likely 2028 nominees—JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker. How many of them have a single identifiable interest outside of their job? It's not just candidates. The more that donors and staff surround themselves with people who are into politics, the easier it becomes to ignore the fact that most Americans aren't. Critics have mocked every detail of the donor retreats that bring together strategists, funders, and influencers in attempts to create 'the Joe Rogan of the left.' But the biggest flaw with these gatherings is baked into the premise: There will never be a Joe Rogan of the left, because there was never a Joe Rogan of the right. Rogan rose to prominence as a mixed-martial-arts color commentator. According to the fan site he went 1,169 episodes before recording his first interview with a sitting elected official, and even now, his catalog lists just 19 episodes (out of more than 2,300) under the 'Politicians' category. Building progressive political media networks is important for those opposed to Trump. Progressive podcasts and news sites are where people who are deeply engaged in politics can stay informed, discuss strategy, and build both on- and offline communities. But to win over people who aren't already political junkies—say, even a small fraction of Rogan's audience—it's important to recognize that his political credibility comes in large part from the fact that he doesn't think of himself as political. The same is true of nearly all the other 'manosphere' hosts who powered Trump's reelection. Andrew Schulz and Theo Von are comedians. Dave Portnoy talks sports and reviews pizza. Jordan Peterson focuses on self-help. The Nelk Boys do pranks. Each of them followed the same path: focusing first on interests, then issues, and only years later turning to elections. These hosts have something else in common: The media they use to reach people are all relatively new. In prose writing, where gravitas is still valued, Democrats maintain a cultural advantage. But in media that prioritize fun over seriousness—podcasts, YouTube, TikTok, memes, or any other format you were never assigned as homework—conservatives dominate. What can the anti-Trump opposition do to reverse this trend? Although governor-hosted podcasts are an interesting experiment, what the party needs are channels that build audiences by being purely entertaining and then, on rare occasions, bring on candidates as guests. The Harris campaign was smart to land an interview with Call Her Daddy, and I suspect some newly launched podcasts, such as Good Hang With Amy Poehler, will be similarly sought-after for appearances as the primaries approach. Look at the comedian Ian Fidance parrying a MAGA heckler, or Ricky Velez's brutally accurate assessment of Biden's age. These stand-ups don't bill themselves as Democrats. In fact, I would guess they find Democrats cringe inducing. Which is why, if they were ever to take a Rogan-like political turn, their endorsement might actually move the needle. Democrats should also double down on their last remaining cultural edge—traditional celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, who both endorsed Harris in 2024. When celebrities endorse a candidate on social media, they reach millions of voters who might not otherwise consume much political content. Even though the Swift and Beyoncé endorsements were clearly not enough, the strategy still holds promise. The challenge for Democrats is how to get even more exposure to that audience. Imagine, in 2026 or 2028, entertainers from across genres and fandoms lending their platforms to long, personal conversations that get past campaign talking points and allow candidates to connect directly with their fans. It would be the kind of opportunity to reach disengaged voters that no TV ad or well-attended rally could replace. Republicans might not have their normal-guy advantage for long. Having taken over the political establishment, they risk losing their place as the party of people who don't like politics. President Trump is determined to inject government into every corner of American life. J. D. Vance is a walking 'How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?' meme. Stephen Miller is many things, but chill isn't one of them.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Poll: 60% of Americans says Trump's military parade is a waste of money
A majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump's upcoming military parade in Washington, D.C., is not a good use of government funds, according to an AP-NORC poll published on Thursday. Sixty percent of survey respondents, including 80% of Democrats and 72% of independents, said that the parade was not money well spent. The event, which will celebrate the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary and coincide with the president's 79th birthday, is estimated to cost taxpayers up to $45 million. It will feature nearly 7,000 troops, 50 aircraft and 28 tanks. The poll, which surveyed 1,158 U.S. adults between June 5 and June 9, also found that a 40% plurality of respondents "strongly' or 'somewhat' approved of Trump's decision to hold the parade. The survey showed that 31% neither approved nor disapproved, and 29% said they 'strongly' or 'somewhat' disapproved. Nearly 80% of people who said they neither approved nor disapproved of the parade agreed that it was not a good use of government funds. A separate recent poll, conducted by Data for Progress and Common Dreams, found that a majority of veterans opposed a military parade 'in honor of President Trump's birthday.' Some critics have noted the hypocrisy of holding this event as the Trump administration proposes significant funding cuts to veterans' benefits. Grassroots groups are planning protests against Trump on the same day as the parade. Earlier this week, the president pledged that any protesters who disrupt the celebration will be met with 'very big force.'
