Pew Daily Number

Comparing the U.S. Commerce Department’s list of most-visited nations in 2007 (based on a survey of airlines) and the 2008 Global Attitudes surveys reveals that in six of their 10 most popular foreign destinations Americans are well-liked; opinion is mixed or negative in three nations, and ratings are not available for one country.

Fully 78% of campaign stories from January 1 through May 4, 2008 examined by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism focused on political tactics, strategy or the state of the horserace, as opposed to policy, background or personal issues. Policy topics made up 7% of the stories, personal matters, 7%, and public record, 2%. Compared with a similar time period in 2007, coverage became about a fifth more political in 2008 (78% vs. 63%).

According to a 2006 survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, 31% of the Chinese public considers religion to be very or somewhat important in their lives, compared with only 11% who say religion is not at all important.

When asked to grade the presidential campaigns’ voter outreach, a solid 56% give Obama’s campaign an A or B, while only 32% say the same of McCain’s campaign.

A majority of voters (56%) say the country should have a third major political party in addition to the Democrats and Republicans, while 39% say it should not. Voters were split on a third party four years ago. Not surprisingly, independents (72%) are much more supportive of a third party than are Republicans (53%) or Democrats (47%). Young voters (65%) are also strong backers of a third party.

Asked to pick the top two from a list of five possible reasons that people eat so much junk food, respondents most often cited convenience (73%). Other reasons were that it’s what people like to eat (44%); it’s because of heavy advertising (37%); it’s more affordable (24%); and it’s because people don’t know which foods are healthy (14%). While both heavy and light consumers of junk food agree that convenience is the biggest reason for America’s junk food habit, those who say they rarely or never overeat junk food are more likely to stress the importance of advertising as a factor in the consumption of junk food by others. Those who acknowledge that they themselves eat too much junk food are more likely to stress that it’s what people like to eat.

Despite growing anti-Chinese sentiment around the world, international opinion largely approves of holding the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympics in China; however, a plurality of Americans (43%) disapproves of the decision to allow China to host the Games, along with dissenters in Japan (55%), France (55%) and Germany (47%). In 14 of 23 countries, a Pew survey finds, clear majorities favor having the games in Beijing.

Nearly six-in-ten (58%) Americans say the Republican Party favors the rich, while nearly two-thirds say the Democratic Party favors the middle class (39%) or the poor (26%). Self-identified lower-class Americans are somewhat more likely (65%) than the general public to see the GOP as the party of the rich.

A July Pew Research survey found 12% of Americans continue to say Barack Obama is Muslim, virtually unchanged from 10% in March.

Of all the major racial and ethnic groups in America, blacks are the most likely to report a formal religious affiliation, and even among black adults who are unaffiliated (12%), more than two-thirds (70%) say that religion is somewhat or very important in their lives.

Around the globe, publics are expressing negative views about their economy -- 18 of 24 countries surveyed by Pew describe current economic conditions as bad.

Trends among America’s youngest voters are often a barometer for the political climate, a troubling thought for the GOP since the Democrats’ current lead in party identification among young voters has more than doubled since 2004, from 11 points to 25 points.

Over the past few months, Republican views on the state of the nation have turned more negative; just 29% of Republicans now say they are satisfied with the state of the nation, an eleven-point drop in two months, and half the proportion expressing satisfaction in January 2007.

A much greater share of independents -- 46% -- now say they are either undecided or might change their minds than said so four years ago; in June 2004, only 28% of independents were still wavering.

By a margin of 46-42, Americans say that the rich are rich mainly because they know the right people or are born into wealth rather than because of hard work, ambition or education. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the upper class is less likely to attribute their success to family ties or connections with 56% saying that rich people achieve their money through hard work. Most of the lower class (53%) believes that connections are the key.

As it did in October 2004, gay marriage ranks lowest in importance among 16 campaign issues for the average U.S. voter; overall, 28% say gay marriage will be very important to their vote, down slightly from 32% in 2004.

A quarter (26%) of online adults have searched for a friend online, with men (28%) slightly more likely than women (23%) to seek out information about a friend online.

As France commemorates the storming of the Bastille today -- a symbol of the uprising of the modern French nation -- the median percentage of people saying the French government respects the freedoms of its people in a 24-nation Pew Research survey is 63%, essentially the same as the rating given the U.S. government (65%). Majorities in 16 nations say the government of France respects the freedoms of its people, and the percentage of people saying France does not respect these freedoms tends to be lower than is the case for the U.S. Overwhelmingly, fellow Europeans believe the French government treats its people well. More than three-quarters of those surveyed in Germany (86%), Poland (82%), Spain (79%) and Great Britain (78%) believe the government in Paris respects the rights of its citizens, as do two-thirds in Russia. The French themselves are actually more likely than any other European public to say these rights are not respected in their country -- still, only 22% feel this way.

In a nation often portrayed as idealizing money and hard work, the top choice among a list of life’s priorities included in a Pew Social Trends survey question was "having enough time to do the things you want"; some two-thirds (68%) of the self-identified middle class say that free time is very important to them, more than say the same about anything else on the list, including having children (62%), having a successful career (59%), being married (55%), living a religious life (53%), and donating to charity or doing volunteer work (52%). And having free time is many times more important than being wealthy, which was rated as very important by only 12% of the middle class. When it comes to these life priorities, there is almost no class difference in the responses. The finding about the widespread importance of free time raises intriguing questions. Is this a reaction to the stress of modern life? Is leisure-time shrinking for middle class Americans? And who values free time the most -- those who already have it, or those who wish they did?

Overall, the United States evokes negative reactions among Muslim publics, but nowhere are there more negative feelings than among the Shia population of Lebanon; not a single respondent in a recent Pew Research survey expressed a favorable opinion of the U.S.

Roughly one-third of all Protestants were either unable or unwilling to describe their specific denominational affiliation; respondents, for instance, described themselves as "just a Baptist" or "just a Methodist." Protestants account for roughly half of the adult population and nearly two-in-three (65%) Christians in the United States, but American Protestantism is very diverse.