Poll Tracker

North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven (R) leads Sen. Byron Dorgan (D) by double-digits in a hypothetical 2010 Senate race, according to a Zogby International poll of likely voters conducted Nov. 17 through 18.

Though both men are popular in the state, Hoeven tops Dorgan 55 percent to 36 percent, with 9 percent undecided. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.

Hoeven's margin grows if North Dakota voters are informed that Dorgan supports the Democrat's health care overhaul legislation -- 57 percent to 32 percent for Dorgan.

Finally, something people can agree on: The economy's bad.

Really.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll taken Nov. 13-15 found that 82 percent of American adults contacted for the survey said the economy was poor.

And while Americans are looking for someone to blame, they appear to be shifting some of that burden from the Republicans to the Democrats.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) remains at under 50 percent, but continues to lead her two prospective Republican foes in the California Senate race, a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Nov. 17 found.

Boxer tops former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (R) among likely California voters, 46 to 37 percent, and state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R) 46 to 36 percent. In both match-ups, 5 percent of voters say they would back some other candidate and 12 to 13 percent were unsure. The margin of error was 4.5 percent.

Fiorina formally launched her campaign Nov. 4 but does not appear to have gotten much of a bounce out of the roll-out. Boxer's lead over both Republicans is narrower than in a Field Poll released in early October, but holds steady with a Ramussen poll conducted earlier this fall.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) are virtually tied in a Republican primary match-up for next year's Senate race, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll of likely GOP voters conducted Nov. 18.

McCain leads Hayworth 45 percent to 43 percent, with anti-illegal immigration activist Chris Simcox taking 4 percent. The margin of error was 4 percent.

McCain was expected to coast to a 5th term next year, and he still could, if Hayworth doesn't run. He doesn't have a serious general election challenger and Simcox, the other declared Republican, has not shown the capacity to gain much traction among voters.

Voters are evenly divided at 46 percent on whether they approve or disapprove of the way President Obama is doing his job as president, according to a Fox News poll taken Nov. 17-18.

Fox said 46 percent marked a low point in Obama's approval since taking office, which has averaged 56 percent. The high point for his approval in a Fox News poll came a week after his inauguration when it was 65 percent.

Low point or not, the president is better at his job than Congress, which has an approval rating of 26 percent and disapproval of 63 percent, according to the Fox poll.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) has a double-digit lead on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) among registered New York voters in a hypothetical 2010 Senate match-up, according to a Marist poll conducted Nov. 12, 16 and 17.

Giuliani was all over the headlines in New York on Thursday after associates leaked word he would not run for governor, as many had expected. Giuliani is reportedly more interested in the Senate race, and with good reason, according to the Marist results. He trumps Gillibrand, the freshman senator appointed in January, with a majority of voters, 54 to 40 percent. The margin of error was 3.5 percent.

Giuliani leads both among Republicans -- 84 to 12 percent -- and independents -- 55 to 41 percent. He even takes a third of Democratic voters, trailing Gillibrand 59 to 33 percent.

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman (R) has pulled into a tie with state Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) in a hypothetical general election match-up for California governor, according to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports conducted Nov. 17.

Whitman and Brown each pull 41 percent of support among likely voters in the Democratic leaning state, the poll found. Three percent would support some other candidate and 14 percent are unsure. The margin of error was 4.5 percent.

Whitman trailed Brown 35 percent to 44 percent in the last Rasmussen poll.

American voters like President Obama considerably more as someone to share a beer than they like what he is trying to do when he's at work, according to a Quinnipiac University poll taken Nov. 9-16.

While 74 percent of the respondents to the survey say they like Obama as a person, 47 percent say they like his policies, the Quinnipiac poll found.

"Most Americans like President Barack Obama and might like to have a beer with him," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "But millions of voters who sided with him last November because they thought he would bring change to Washington aren't crazy about the kind of change he is trying to bring."

American voters are still trending hawkish on the war in Afghanistan and a plurality would support President Obama sending in 40,000 more U.S. troops, but patience with the war there is not open-ended, according to a Quinnipiac University poll taken Nov. 9-16.

Forty-seven percent said the president should send in the additional troops that his commanders in Afghanistan have requested, but 55 percent said the American commitment should be for two years or less.

"Overall, the new numbers on Afghanistan show an almost across the board erosion of support for the war and worries about getting too deeply involved there militarily. But when the focus is on fighting terror, American resolve remains strong," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Sixty-one percent of adults oppose using public funds to pay for abortions for women who may be covered by a government health insurance system, and 51 percent say women covered by private insurance should not have coverage that pays for abortion, according to a CNN poll taken Nov. 13-15.

The same poll found that 56 percent favor creating a federally run health insurance program to compete with private insurance companies, and 66 percent said state governments should not be allowed to decide whether the federal insurance would apply everyone in the state.

The CNN poll found the public evenly split 49 percent-49 percent on whether the government should require everyone in the country to obtain health insurance, and 66 percent were opposed to cutting back federal spending on managed care programs under Medicare.