An early look-ahead at the 2010 Senate race in Illinois when newly-appointed Democrat Roland Burris - the choice of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich - is up for re-election shows Burris and other potential Democratic candidates running ahead of Republicans who might enter the race, according to a Research 2000 poll conducted Jan. 26-28.

Of course, Burris has to nail down his party's nomination first. Research 2000 tested him in a potential primary contest against six-term Rep. Jan Schakowsky and State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and had Burris at 26 percent, Schakowsky at 12 percent and Giannoulias at 11 percent. But 51 percent were undecided. Burris is obviously better known than the other two given all the recent publicity heaped upon him. Fifty-seven percent have no opinion on Schakowsky and 49 percent have no opinion of Giannoulias, but that number is a lesser 30 percent for Burris.

Democrats as a party have notched their biggest margin in nearly two decades over Republicans in favorability ratings , according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 7-11. Sixty-two percent of Americans have a positive opinion of the Democrats compared to 40 percent for the Republicans. The last time the Democrats had a lead that approached those numbers was in 1992, a situation that reversed itself with the GOP takeover of Congress in 1994 when it led in the favorability sweepstakes by 17 points.

The Democrats lead in just about all demographic groups, and even have a slim 50 percent to 48 percent advantage among white evangelicals. However, the party's favorability score does not carry over to the Democratic-led Congress where only 40 percent say they view the institution positively.

Newly-appointed New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has "her work cut out for her" when it comes to standing for re-election in 2010, according to a Siena Research Institute poll conducted Jan. 25-27.

The survey of New York registered voters said 21 percent are prepared to support her in 2010 while 29 percent prefer someone else. A big part of that work she has to do is with her own party where that figure is 20 percent for her in 2010 and 28 percent against, (by contrast, 24 percent of Republicans say they would support her while 28 percent are opposed). Among Democrats, 63 percent would like to see someone challenge her in a primary while only 11 percent want to see her run unopposed.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed by a deranged gunman and is a strong gun control advocate, has already said she'd oppose Gillibrand if no one else did because of Gillibrand's support of gun owners' rights.

President Obama came to office promising to close the detainee prison at Guantanmo and end the use of harsh interrogation techniques that amounted to torture. A poll by Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted Jan. 27-28 found mixed feelings among voters about these issues.

The survey showed voters divided on closing Guantanamo, with 47 percent favoring it and 45 percent opposed. Sixty-three percent said it was a bad idea for Obama to order closure of the base before having a plan on where the prisoners will be relocated.

A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Jan. 27-29 shows support for the economic stimulus package at lower levels than Gallup and Diageo/Hotline polls released yesterday.

In the Rasmussen survey, likely voters support the measure 42 percent to 39 percent with 19 percent undecided. Although asked in somewhat different language, Gallup had support for passage of the package at 52 percent to 37 percent and Diageo/Hotline had voters supporting the plan 54 percent to 34 percent. Rasmussen said one of the factors in its result was that support among unaffiliated voters had fallen from about an even divide a week ago, to 50 percent against.

Respondents also made clear that tax cuts were an important part of their consideration. Seventy percent said they would oppose a measure that depended only on government spending with no tax cuts.

Congressional Democrats appear to be basking in some of the glow of Barack Obama's high approval ratings so far with 49 percent giving positive marks to the job they are doing compared to 26 percent who approve of Republicans, according to a Diageo/Hotline poll conducted Jan. 21-24.

Right now, 55 percent of voters see Obama favorably and 21 percent "somewhat favorably" for a total positive mark of 76 percent. Voters approve of the way Obama is so far handling his presidency by 63 percent to 9 percent. By 75 percent to 22 percent, they are confident Obama will bring real change to the way things are done in Washington.

As President Barack Obama tries to win over reluctant Republicans on his economic stimulus plan, a slim majority of the American public wants to see Congress pass the roughly $800 billion package of new government spending and tax breaks. According to a Gallup Poll on Tuesday, 52 percent of the nation's adults favor congressional passage of plan and 37 percent are opposed, while 11 percent have no opinion.

A Diageo/Hotline poll conducted Jan. 21-24 put support for the stimulus plan at 54 percent to 34 percent even if it means increasing the federal deficit.

Lobbying for and against the bill has intensified in recent weeks.But despite all the focus on the plan, public opinion on the subject is virtually identical to where it stood three weeks ago. A Gallup Poll conducted Jan. 6-7 found 53 percent of Americans in favor of Congress passing a major economic stimulus program (then estimated at $775 billion) while 36 percent were opposed.

A Rasmussen Reports poll showed 57 percent of voters say tax cuts generally help the economy, with 17 percent disagreeing and 1 percent saying they will hurt the economy. Most voters, 56 percent to 23 percent, also believe they pay more than their fair share of taxes, the report said.

Voters in the survey who earn less than $20,000 a year were fairly evenly divided as to whether tax cuts help or hurt, but majorities in all other income brackets see tax cuts as helpful. Those earning $40,000 to $100,000 a year are most likely to see tax cuts as good for the economy.

President Obama promised tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans during his presidential campaign and has included them in his proposed economic recovery plan.

Democrat Michael Bennet, named to fill the Colorado Senate seat that Ken Salazar vacated to join Barack Obama's cabinet, has made clear he intends to run for a full term in 2010. The early read on his prospects in a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Jan. 23-25 finds that the former Denver school chief is still unknown by a plurality of voters in the state, but those who do know him view him favorably.

Bennet's favorable to unfavorable ratio is 33 percent to 21 percent with 45 percent unsure. PPP matched him up against four possible opponents - two of whom have since said they don't intend to run - and he led all but one. Putting specific candidacies aside, 45 percent of voters said they would back the Democrat in 2010, 42 percent said they would support the Republican and 13 percent weren't sure.

President Obama moved quickly last week, on his second full day in office, to fulfill a campaign promise to close the controversial prison camp for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A Rasmussen Reports poll released Tuesday shows a public deeply conflicted over the wisdom of this move, with a split running strongly along party lines - though the results suggest Obama gained ground with the public on this issue in the weeks preceding his inauguration.

The survey of 1,000 Americans defined as likely voters, taken Jan. 25-26, showed 44 percent of respondents agreed that the prison camp should be closed, while 42 percent disagreed. The remaining 14 percent said they were not sure.

Despite criticism of the way New York Gov. David Paterson handled the filling of Hillary Clinton's vacant Senate seat, more New York registered voters blamed Caroline Kennedy and her aides for the flame-out of her Senate bid than they do Paterson or his team, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Jan. 23-25.

Forty-nine percent blamed the Kennedy side compared to 15 person who singled out Paterson, 12 percent blamed both equally and 24 percent had no opinion.

Forty-nine percent of Americans consider Barack Obama to be more liberal than they are while 38 percent consider him about the same, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Jan. 21 -22. Nine percent regard him as more conservative.

A plurality (35 percent) also believe that Obama is more liberal than most Democrats in Congress (31 percent say the lawmakers are more liberal and a third aren't sure).

"As popular as Barack Obama" is a label coveted these days by any politician - and maybe even more prized by incumbents of the beleaguered Republican Party who face re-election contests in 2010, the first midterm election year of Democrat Obama's presidency. And according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll in Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist is one of those Republicans who can wear Obama-like approval ratings as a badge of honor.

The survey of 1,370 Florida voters taken Jan. 14-19 showed 67 percent of respondents held a favorable opinion of Crist, who was elected governor in the 2006 race to succeed term-limited Republican Jeb Bush. Those who said they disapproved totaled 21 percent, with 10 percent saying they did not know enough to answer and 2 percent declining to state an opinion.

These numbers for Crist, two years into his term, were comparable to those enjoyed by Obama in Florida during his pre-inauguration national "honeymoon." Obama scored a 66 percent favorable rating in the poll taken in the six days immediately before his swearing-in, well above the 51 percent of the vote he took in scoring a key electoral vote victory in Florida last November. While 48 percent of the state's voters favored Republican John McCain for president, just 16 percent of the poll respondents said they disapproved of Obama, with 12 percent saying they didn't know enough and 5 percent declining to answer.

Seven in 10 Americans want Barack Obama to focus on domestic rather than foreign policy and over 8 in 10 rank the economy and jobs as the top issue for 2009, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 7-11.

While those figures may not be surprising given the current economic crisis, the 71 percent to 11 percent margin by which Americans want Obama's priority to be domestic rather than foreign issues compares to 60 percent to 21 percent in September 2008, 56 percent to 31 percent for George Bush in January 2008, and 56 percent to 30 percent for Bill Clinton in Sept. 1998.

When it comes to which specific are top priorities, after the economy and jobs, they are terrorism (76 percent), Social Security (63 percent), education (61 percent) and energy and Medicare, (each at 60 percent). While other recent polls (like Gallup) have put health care at the top of the list as far as promises Americans want to see Obama keep, health care comes in at 59 percent in this poll and health insurance at 52 percent. Global warming ranks last at 30 percent, and the environment, in general, also not commanding a majority, at 40 percent. Protecting the environment and illegal immigration represent the biggest drops from last year's list at 15 points and 10 points respectively.

The Democrats are coming off a big year in North Carolina, which included Barack Obama's narrow win there for president, Kay Hagan's upset defeat of Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Beverly Perdue's victory to keep the governor's office in Democratic hands. Now Democratic strategists, as they plan for the 2010 Senate races, are looking to build upon those victories by targeting first-term North Carolina Sen. Richard M. Burr in his bid for re-election.

And a state poll released Wednesday, which showed Burr with unusually tepid approval ratings four years into his Senate tenure, suggests the incumbent has work to do if he is to deflect the expected challenge.

The Jan. 17-18 survey of 650 North Carolina voters conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) showed just 33 percent approved of his job performance, while 30 percent disapproved. But perhaps most striking is the fact that 37 percent of the respondents stated no opinion of Burr's performance, even though he is already two-thirds through the term to which he was elected in 2004 after 10 years representing a congressional district in the northwest part of the state.

Barack Obama's election for president last November was the culmination of a strong upsurge for his party, with his Democratic Party also now holding sizable majorities in both chambers of Congress. So you might think Americans might be inclined to view a past Democratic president as Obama's rightful role model.

For his part, Obama has often cited Abraham Lincoln -- the first Republican in the White House and the greatest historical figure from the new president's home state of Illinois - as his role model. This is based in part on Lincoln's reputation for being open to dissent in policy-making, as described by Doris Kearns Goodwin in her book, "A Team of Rivals." With Obama's swearing-in Tuesday as the nation's first African-American president, there also is resonance in Lincoln's pursuit of the Union cause in the Civil War that ended black slavery in America.

But when Clarus Research Group asked 1,000 registered voters in the days before the inauguration who they favored as Obama's presidential role model, the plurality winner was ... Ronald Reagan, whose presidency from 1981 to 1989 made him the icon of modern conservative Republicans.

Republican Sen. Mel Martinez's decision not to seek re-election in 2010 puts Florida in a similar position to Ohio where GOP incumbent George Voinovich decided not to run: open seats with a field of potential candidates who are not all that well known, and where there is not a dominant favorite. That state of affairs was underscored when former Gov. Jeb Bush on the Republican side decided not to run as did Democrat Alex Sink who holds the position equivalent to state treasurer.

A Quinnipiac University survey conducted Jan. 14-19 says that the decision not to run by Sink, who would have had a small advantage among Democrats and matched up well with the best-known GOP candidate, "leaves a wide open scramble for the Democrat nomination."

Given his deep unpopularity as he leaves office, it may be hard to remember that when George Bush assumed the Presidency in 2001, the number of Americans who were totally confident in his ability to handle an array of issues was almost as high as what Barack Obama is enjoying now, according to comparisons made between a Gallup poll conducted Jan. 9-11 and its past data.

Confidence in Obama to work effectively with Congress, manage the executive branch and fulfill the proper role of the U.S. in the world all measures from 80 percent to 89 percent, but while Bush's marks were lower than that, they still ranked in the 70s. Bush scored 77 percent to Obama's 74 percent in terms of confidence that he would prevent major scandals in his administration and 78 percent to Obama's 71 percent on using military force wisely.

Looking ahead, Gallup found that 72 percent of Americans believe the country will be better off four years from now. Twenty-four percent believe he will be an outstanding president and 38 percent say he will be above average.

The election of the nation's first black president has prompted much discussion about whether it has changed the perception of race in American society. A Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Jan. 13-16 found that 26 percent of Americans consider racism a big problem compared to 54 percent in 1996. Forty-four percent of blacks say it is still a big problem, down from 70 percent, 12 years ago while 22 percent of whites still consider it a big problem, down from 52 percent.

Thirty-five percent overall say racial equality has been achieved and another 38 percent believe it soon will be. Whites are more likely to say it has been achieved (by 18 points) but equal numbers of blacks and whites feel it soon will be achieved.

Ensuring that all children have health insurance, doubling production of alternative energy and reducing health care costs are the promises Barack Obama have made that most Americans want him to keep, according to a Gallup poll conducted Jan. 9-11.

There is agreement on the top three across partisan lines although by different margins. Democrats agree on this top three by even higher percentages than the overall public. Independents rate them in the top 60s, and Republicans in the low to mid 50s.

As to what Americans believe Obama will be able to accomplish, enacting a big public works program tops the list (80 percent), followed by increasing U.S. military strength in Afghanistan (68 percent), ensuring children have health insurance (62 percent) and lifting restrictions on government funding of stem cell research (61 percent).

Despite criticism of Barack Obama's choice of pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at tomorrow's Inauguration ceremony, most Americans (52 percent) don't have an opinion on the matter and, of those who do, they approve of the choice 39 percent to 9 percent, according to a Gallup poll conducted Jan. 16-17.

Republicans approve 48 percent to 9 percent, Democrats by 37 percent to 10 percent and independents by 33 percent to 7 percent. Even those identifying themselves as liberal approve 39 percent to 16 percent.

The decision by Republican Sen. George Voinovich not to seek re-election to his Ohio seat in 2010 opens the field to a number of contenders who all face the same hurdle - they are not very well known in the state, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Jan. 17-18.

On the Republican side, 49 percent of voters don't know enough about GOP hopeful Rob Portman. As for the Democrats, 31 percent don't know Secretary of State Jennifer Bruner, 28 percent say the same about Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, and 46 percent are not sure of their opinion about 4 term Rep. Tim Ryan.

So, the match-ups are of dubious value right now. Portman leads all the Democrats by various margins. He matches up 42 percent to 34 percent against Brunner with about a quarter of voters undecided; he has a statistically insignificant 41 percent to 39 percent lead over Fisher with 20 percent undecided, and he leads Ryan 40 percent to 34 percent with 26 percent undecided.

How would you feel if you had a big speech to make tomorrow and some told you that 56 percent of your audience were expecting an "excellent" speech and another 30 percent expected it to be "good." That's the standard Barack Obama will have to meet with his inaugural address on Tuesday, according to a Gallup poll conducted Jan. 9-11. George Bush might never have claimed to be a great orator, but at least the pressure was off for him: only 17 percent in 2005 and 16 percent in 2001 expected his speech to be excellent.

Gallup also found that 78 percent of Americans considered Obama's inauguration to be the most or one of the most historic the nation has ever had.

Here's our video review of inaugural addresses, with a little touch of Obama as well.

Americans have high confidence in Barack Obama to make the right decisions about the country's future, but they don't have the same feeling about Republicans or Democrats in Congress, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Jan. 13-16.

Those polled believe by 61 percent to 31 percent that Obama will do the right things, but that ratio reverses for partisans on the Hill with 56 percent not having that confidence in Democrats and 69 percent not having it in Republicans. Americans, by a 52 percent to 14 percent margin, have high expectations of Obama but are more closely divided on whether he has a mandate to carry out the agenda he presented in the presidential campaign, with 50 percent saying he does and 46 percent saying he should make compromises.

Seventy-two percent are confident that Obama's program will improve the economy.

Obama's decision to ask for release of the second $350 billion in aid to financial institutions does not synch with popular opinion, with the poll finding the public opposed to it by 58 percent to 38 percent.

Barack Obama will take office Tuesday with 60 percent of Americans viewing him favorably and 79 percent expressing optimism about the next four years under his leadership, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted Jan. 11-15. Sixty-eight percent predict he will be a very good or good President and 70 percent believe he will bring about real change.

Eighty-two percent are very or somewhat confident Obama will make the right decisions about the economy, 72 percent say the same about Obama and Iraq, 68 percent believe he will make the right decisions on the Mideast and 76 percent are confident he will protect the U.S. from terrorism. The biggest concerns about Obama are his inexperience or that something will happen to him and he won't finish his term. Those views were expressed by 12 percent in the poll.

Two-thirds of Americans are very or somewhat optimistic that the new Obama administration will improve conditions in the country, although there is a partisan divide with 55 percent of Republicans being very or somewhat pessimistic compared to the 36 percent who are optimistic, according to a Newsweek poll conducted Jan. 14-15. And 51 percent of Americans have developed a more favorable view since he became President-elect, including 29 percent of Republicans. The one area in which Republicans and Democrats strongly agree is that Congress should look for ways to work with Obama.

Majorities ranging from 60 percent to almost 80 percent express confidence that Obama will turn the economy around, bring troops home from Iraq, improve U.S. relations around the world, decrease U.S. dependence on oil, and make health care more accessible and affordable. The only issue on which less than a majority express confidence is on whether he can defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Only forty-eight percent voiced confidence in him to do that.

The decision last Monday of former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie to seek the Republican nomination run against Democratic Gov. John Corzine this year throws that race into tighter focus even though Christie may have to face competition first for his party's nod.

A Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll conducted Jan. 12-14 shows Corzine with a statistically insignificant 38 percent to 36 percent lead over Christie with 2 percent preferring another candidate, 4 percent not intending to vote and 21 percent still undecided at this earlier date. The margin of error is 4.8 percent. If voters are asked which way they'd come down between Corzine and a Republican other than Christie, Corzine runs ahead 36 percent to 32 percent with 18 percent undecided and 12 percent saying it depends who the Republican was.

Journalism is often called the first draft of history, and if polls are the first draft of a leader's legacy, the verdicts are not treating George Bush gently.

Like other polls this week, a New York Times/CBS News survey conducted Jan. 11-15 found Bush leaving office with 73 percent of Americans disapproving of the way he handled his job compared to 22 percent who supported him. That was way below any of his predecessors dating back to Jimmy Carter. Bill Clinton left office with a 68 percent approval rating, Bush's father registered 54 percent, Ronald Reagan left at 68 percent, and Carter at 44 percent.

A pair of pre-Inaugural polls provide this snapshot of what Americans are thinking as the White House is about to change hands: Barack Obama will take office riding a huge wave of confidence in him and high expectations about what he will achieve, while George Bush leaves office with most believing he will go down in history as a poor or below-average president.

A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted January 9-11 also finds, not surprisingly, that Americans have set a high bar for Obama on his inauguration speech. Fifty-six percent expect it to be excellent and another 30 percent expect it to be good. Fifty-five percent had expected George Bush's inaugural to be excellent or good when he took the oath for a second term in 2005.

Caroline Kennedy has done the big fade when it comes to New Yorkers' interest in her getting the appointment to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, according to polls by Quinnipiac University and the Marist Institute.

A third poll, conducted Jan. 12-14 by Research 2000, posed the question a different way with a different result. It matched up Kennedy and Cuomo in a 2010 primary and put Kennedy ahead 31 percent to 26 percent, but a whopping 41 percent were undecided.

While a plurality of New Yorkers in the Quinnipiac poll (38 percent) believe Gov. David Paterson will choose her, they now prefer Attorney General Andrew Cuomo by 31 percent to 24 percent with 14 percent undecided, according to the Quinnipiac poll conducted Jan. 8-12. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Kirsten Gillibrand and Steve Israel all scored in single digits. In Quinnipiac's December poll, Kennedy led 33 percent to 29 percent.

Barack Obama is about to take office enjoying good reviews of his performance so far and high expectations of Americans about what he will achieve, while George Bush leaves the presidency with voters believed by a 53 percent to 30 percent margin (including 47 percent of Republicans) that history will be cruel to him, according to a Fox News poll conducted Jan. 13-14.

Obama's favorable to unfavorable rating is 76 percent to 15 percent and that includes 55 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of independents. Although 50 percent of voters believe expectations have been set so high for Obama that there is no way he can live up to them, three-quarters express confidence that he will be able to bring about significant positive change for the country. Forty nine percent say they are comfortable with the changes Obama says he wants to make compared to 41 percent who say they are not.

Just call him Obama the Uniter. Even before he's sworn in, President-elect Obama appears to be inspiring public confidence, with about seven in ten Americans predicting he'll do the right thing when it comes to addressing the economic crisis, fighting terrorism and managing the war in Iraq, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center for People & the Press. What is more, the poll shows a sharp decline in the proportion of Americans who believe the country if fractured by partisanship.

The survey of 1,503 adults, conducted on cell phones and landlines from Jan. 7 to 11, reflects the optimism Americans generally show toward new administrations. Thought most Americans believe it's too early to predict whether Obama will be a successful or unsuccessful president, the optimists far outnumber the pessimists, 30 percent to 4 percent. That tracks with Pew's findings in 2001, when 26 percent of respondents thought President Bush would be successful, compared to 15 percent who said he'd be unsuccessful.

Republican Sen. Christopher Bond's decision not to run for re-election in Missouri in 2010 positions Secretary of State Robin Carnahan as an early favorite to take the seat, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Jan. 10-11.

Carnahan, of course, is the daughter of one of the state's most prominent political families, former Gov. Mel Carnahan, who died in a plane crash in 2000 during a campaign for the Senate against GOP incumbent John Ashcroft that he won posthumously, and his wife Jean Carnahan who filled out the remainder of the term her husband would have served, but lost a bid for re-election in 2002 to Republican Jim Talent. That seat switched back to the Democrats when Talent lost in 2006 to Claire McCaskill.

A new poll shows many Americans support President-elect Obama's stimulus plan but the optimism is tinged with apprehension that the government will spend too much money and exacerbate the budget deficit. The new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed 43 percent believe the stimulus is a "good idea" and 71 percent approve of the way Obama is handling the transition. At the same time, the survey suggested many remain concerned about the potential impact on the government's budget. Sixty percent said they worry more that the government will spend too much money and worsen the deficit, while 33 percent said they worry more that the government will spend too little.

Gallup's final poll on the presidential performance of Republican George W. Bush shows he is leaving office with the lowest job approval score - 34 percent - since one-term Democrat Jimmy Carter following his defeat by the GOP's Ronald Reagan in 1980.

You have to go back even further - to the biggest presidential downfall of all time -- to find a president who drew more disapproval upon his departure from office. Among the presidents who have served since World War II, Bush's final 61 percent disapproval rating in the Gallup poll was the highest since Republican Richard M. Nixon resigned in August 1974 because of his involvement in the Watergate scandal.

Although Carter also had a 34 percent approval rating in a final poll taken much earlier before his departure (Dec. 5-8, 1980), a smaller share of respondents, 55 percent, expressed outright disapproval.

Americans are keeping a close eye on how President-elect Barack Obama is proceeding on the economic front (38 percent have followed the story very closely and 40 percent somewhat closely), and they favor the economic recovery plan he is proposing by 44 percent to 28 percent with 27 percent undecided, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Jan. 10-11. More than half believe a big federal plan is very important to hopes for a recovery.

Forty-seven percent of Americans say tax cuts will do the most to stimulate the economy while 32 percent believe new government spending best does the trick. Asked hypothetically how they felt about a plan that had tax cuts only and no new government spending, respondents were split - 38 percent opposed, 37 percent favoring and 25 percent unsure.

But they were emphatic that a plan had to contain tax cuts. Fifty-eight percent said they would oppose any measure that did not include them.

North Carolina's first term Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr looks to have a fight on his hands when he is up for re-election in 2010 with two potential Democratic contenders measuring up well to him in an early poll conducted Jan. 5-7 by Research 2000.

Burr leads Attorney General Roy Cooper by only 45 percent to 43 percent with 12 percent undecided. If former state Treasurer Richard Moore is the nominee, Burr would be ahead 46 percent to 40 percent with 14 percent undecided. Burr's favorable to unfavorable ratio is 47 percent to 46 percent, Cooper's is 41 percent to 21 percent with 38 percent having no opinion, and Moore's is 37 percent to 27 percent with 36 percent having no opinion.

First-term New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine is up for re-election this year against a back-drop of voter unhappiness with the direction the state is going. Just a quarter of voters say the state is going in the right direction down 3 points from a year ago, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll conducted Jan. 2-7.

Although a plurality (within the poll's 3.5 point margin of error) regard Corzine unfavorably, his numbers are better than the view of voters have the state's direction - 44 percent view him unfavorably compared to 42 percent who view him favorably. Forty-one percent say his job performance is "fair," 32 percent call it "good" and 25 percent describe it as poor.

If Caroline Kennedy gets appointed to Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, she would go into a 2010 election against Long Island Republican Rep. Peter King with the upper hand, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted January 6. The survey has Kennedy leading 51 percent to 33 percent among New York voters with 9 percent favoring some other candidate and 7 percent undecided.

Unsurprisingly, King suffers from not having the widespread name recognition of Kennedy with 23 percent not knowing enough about him to have a favorable or unfavorable opinion. His favorable to unfavorable ratio is 39 percent to 37 percent while Kennedy's is 63 percent to 31 percent despite the hammering she has been taking lately in the press and from critics.

President-elect Barack Obama's aide have been talking to Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill about a stimulus package of roughly $775 billion, and a Gallup poll conducted Jan. 6-7 say Americans support that by 53 percent to 36 percent with 11 percent undecided.

Broken down along partisan lines, Republicans oppose it 56 percent to 34 percent, Democrats favor it 67 percent to 19 percent and independents support it 54 percent to 37 percent.

Although Israel's military conflict with Hamas received more news coverage last week than the Obama transition or financial crisis, interest among Americans still was focused on the economy (26 percent) followed by the transition (24 percent) and the Mideast conflict (18 percent), according to a Pew Research Center survey.

Two polls today present a mixed bag of opinions on where consumer confidence stands. A Gallup poll reports consumer expectations are getting a little better as the new year gets under way. The percentage of consumers saying the economy is "getting better" minus the percentage saying it is "getting worse" improved to -58 points during the week ending Jan. 4. The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, fell two points on Thursday to 64.8. Confidence is down twenty-nine points from a year ago. Rasmussen also reported that 13 percent of adults say the economy is getting better while 65 percent say it is getting worse.

Earlier we posted a Gallup poll showing that most Americans felt that the U.S. had lost ground on a range of major issues during the Bush presidency. The Pew Research Center posed a similar question in a more nonpartisan way (without the Bush element), and came up with a similar finding.

More than 7 out of 10 Americans surveyed last month thought the nation is losing ground on the budget deficit and job availability. Sixty-nine percent felt the same way about the cost of living and 63 percent about Social Security. The only area where a majority felt ground is being gained is on lessening minority discrimination, which was similar to a finding on race relations in the Gallup poll.

When President Bush will be leaving office in less than two weeks with a pretty dismal report card from Americans on where the U.S. gained and lost ground during his administration, according to a Gallup poll conducted Jan. 2-4

Out of 14 issues, there were only four on which at least a plurality of the public though ground had been gained - the effort to fight AIDS, race relations, national defense and terrorism. The "net" made progress number on these after subtracting those who thought the U.S. loss ground was 19 points on AIDS, 15 points on race relations and 3 points each on terrorism and defense. Eight-seven percent said the country lost ground on the economy and 57 percent said the U.S. position in the world had slipped. (See the New York Times story, In Global Battle on AIDS, Bush Creates Legacy).

There were predictably partisan differences. Two-thirds of Republicans agreed that ground had been lost on the economy, but that number was not as high as the 90 percent of Democrats who felt that way. The highest marks given Bush by his own party were the 54 percent that credited for gaining ground in the war on terrorism and 53 percent who said the same for defense. The only two areas where Bush was in positive numbers with Democrats was on AIDS (6 percent) and race relations (1 percent).

Is there a change these perceptions of Bush will change over time?

A CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted last month found that the image of two former Presidents who left office with low approval ratings had improved. Jimmy Carter's approval rating in December, 1980 was 34 percent but now 65 percent of the public sees him positively. George H. W. Bush's approval rating was 34 percent just before the 1992 election, rose to 56 percent in January 1993 and now stands at 60 percent.

OK, maybe it's none of their business if they don't live in New York, but a Gallup poll says Americans by a 45 percent to 36 percent margin want to see Caroline Kennedy appointed to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. Nineteen percent had no opinion.

Democrats hold that view by 63 percent to 20 percent, independents are divided at 38 percent each, and Republicans would like to see someone else appointed by 56 percent to 28 percent.

Public Policy Polling conducted a survey of New York voters Jan. 3-4 that matched up Kennedy and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo against possible Republican contender Peter King, a Long Island congressman, who said on CNN last month that "there's no evidence" Kennedy was qualified to be senator and added that he could beat her in 2010. The PPP numbers give some credence to King's claim since Kennedy only led him by 46 percent to 44 percent with 10 percent undecided. Cuomo bested King by 48 percent to 29 percent with 23 percent undecided.

A big factor, of course, is that either Democrat is better known statewide than King. Forty percent of voters didn't know enough about King to say whether they viewed him favorably or unfavorably, compared to 22 percent for Cuomo and 16 percent for Kennedy.

Fifty-two percent of Americans following the spectacle of the now-we-fill-it, now-we-don't Illinois Senate seat say the right thing to do is hold a special election as soon as possible, rather than accepting Gov. Rod Blagojevich's appointment of Roland Burris or letting the seat stay open until the issue is resolved, according to a Gallup poll conducted Jan. 5.

Only 16 percent favor letting Burris, the state's former attorney general, serve until 2010 and 23 percent said the seat should remain open until the issue of whether the appointment should stand is resolved.

Looking at the controversy along partisan lines, 61 percent of Republicans said the Senate should block Burris from filling the seat while pluralities of 49 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of independents feel the same way. Republicans feel the strongest that the seat should be filled by holding a special election as soon as possible.

Back in mid-December, Public Policy Polling had New York Democrats favoring Caroline Kennedy as Hillary Clinton's successor by 44 percent to 23 percent over Andrew Cuomo, but a new PPP survey conducted Jan. 3-4 now has Cuomo ahead 58 percent to 27 percent with 14 percent undecided. This time, the poll was not limited to Democrats

PPP says Kennedy's popularity "has taken a major hit as the result of her public campaign" to get the appointment of New York Gov. David Paterson. Although Kennedy is still regarded by a small plurality, 44 percent of voters say their opinion is less favorable than since she first stated publicly her desire for the seat, while 23 percent say they view her more favorably. Her favorable to unfavorable ratio is 44 percent to 40 percent, while that of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is 57 percent to 20 percent.

While much has been written that some liberal Democrats have been disappointed with Barack Obama's cabinet picks and others worried that he'll pursue too centrist a course, a Gallup analysis of its data collected Nov. 5 through Dec. 28 says that 93 percent of this group are confident that Obama will be a good president. That view is held by 86 percent of moderate and conservative Democrats, 51 percent of liberal Republicans and 29 percent of conservative Republicans. In both groups of Republicans, those numbers have risen since election day.

When it comes to Obama's favorability rating, it stands at 96 percent among liberal Democrats, 91 percent among moderate Democrats and 90 percent among conservative Democrats. On the Republican side, 61 percent of moderate/liberal Republicans hold a favorable view of him, up from 48 percent in November, and 37 percent of conservatives see him favorably, up from 26 percent in November.