Political Hotsheet
CBS News/ April 28, 2009, 4:30 PM

Our Poll, Your Questions

(CBS/istockphoto.com)

The CBS News Poll has been asking questions of the public for over thirty years, and it seemed about time for us to ask the people who follow our polls what they would like to know.

To that end, CBSNews.com solicited suggestions from the public for topics to ask about in our CBS News/New York Times 100 days poll that was released last night. We received so many good suggestions -- far more than we could accommodate in a single poll. We included quite a few of these reader suggestions in our poll, and hope to include more in the future.

The wording of the questions was determined by the CBS News Polling Unit, wherever possible matching that of questions previously asked in CBS News Polls to facilitate trend comparisons.

So here are the results to questions we received from users:

Question: Compared to the way the news media have treated other presidents, have the news media been harder on Barack Obama, easier on Barack Obama, or have they treated him the same as other presidents?

Harder: 18%
Easier: 40%
The same: 38%
Don't know/No answer: 4%

Question: Many Republican members of Congress have the Obama Administration's economic plans on taxes and government spending. Do you think they are opposed to these plans mostly because they think they are bad for the economy or mostly for political reasons?

Bad for the economy: 23%
Political reasons: 70%
Both (Vol.): 3%
Don't know/No answer: 4%

Question: Which comes closest to your view? Gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, OR gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, OR there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship?

Allowed to legally marry: 42%
Civil unions: 25%
No legal recognition: 28%
Don't know/No answer: 5%

Question: Which comes closest to your view about illegal immigrants who are currently working in the U.S.? 1) They should be allowed to stay in their jobs, and to eventually apply for US citizenship, or 2) They should be allowed to stay in their jobs only as temporary guest workers, but not to apply for U.S. citizenship, or 3) They should be required to leave their jobs and leave the U.S.

Allowed to stay and apply: 44%
Stay as guest worker: 21%
Required to leave jobs and US: 30%
Don't know/No answer: 5%

Question: Which of these THREE domestic policy areas do you want the President and Congress to concentrate on MOST right now health care, energy, or education?

Health care: 39%
Energy: 18%
Education: 36%
Something else/Combination: 5%
Don't know/No answer: 2%

Question: Do you want Congress to hold hearings to investigate whether the Bush Administration's treatment of detainees, the use of wiretaps and other Justice Department practices broke the law, or don't you think that is necessary?

Want hearings: 34%
Don't think necessary: 62%
Don't know/No answer: 4%

Question: Do you think the federal government is doing all that it could be expected to do to care for the needs and problems facing U.S. military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, or not?

Doing all it could: 20%
Not: 71%
Don't know/No answer: 9%

Click here to read more analysis of the poll and the results divided by party affiliation (PDF)

Here are links to our poll stories from last night:

100 Days In, High Marks For Obama

Blacks See Improved Race Relations

Support For Same Sex Marriage Grows

Public Does Not Want Torture Probe

Video: CBS News Director Of Surveys Sarah Dutton

So what questions would you liked asked in future polls? Let us know via the box below or e-mail us at hotsheet@cbs.com.




Obama's First 100 Days

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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4 Comments Add a Comment
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mattgersz says:
I guess the figures dont lie American student are the dumest in the world. And after our last election i guess it shows.America has gone stupid and the test results prove it.way to go America

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After posting all of these mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and spelling, you should be an expert on stupid Americans.
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DefendLiberty says:
Here was the distribution of Politcal Affiliation of the respondents to this "unbiased" poll!!! LMAO..they stacked it with dems to make obama look good!!! But you had to go to another page to find that out. Shame on you CBS!

Total Republicans 217
Total Democrats 411
Total Independents 345
Posted by azulene at 10:01 PM : Apr 28, 2009
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Actually, the GOP was OVERREPRESENTED int the poll. According a a poll last week, only 21% of Americans self-identify as GOP. Your argument is with America, not CBS. The hard fact is that the GOP is shrinking into a regional party of religious extremists, neocons, and far right ideologues who live mostly in the Ozarks. Sucks to be GOP.
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whowon says:
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/04/29/poll_obama_loses_support.aspx

Youth of America is losing faith. Since they voted him in I think those polls are more worthy then the CBS polls of 3/4 Democrats and Independants. Maybe Katie can ignore this too.
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philabias says:
I guess the figures dont lie American student are the dumest in the world. And after our last election i guess it shows.America has gone stupid and the test results prove it.way to go America
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