CBS News Monthly Poll, July 2009

This poll, fielded July 9-12, 2009, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the presidency, foreign policy, the situation in Iraq, health care and the economy, whether they thought things in the country were on the right track, their rating of the national economy and whether they thought the economy would get better. Respondents were also asked questions about the economic recession including how long they thought it would last, whether they believed the stimulus package made the economy better, whether the stimulus package would make the economy better in the future, whether the federal government should spend money to stimulate the national economy, whether it was acceptable to raise the deficit to create jobs and stimulate growth, and whether the federal budget deficit affected the respondent's family's financial situation. Several questions about health care were asked including whether President Obama would be able to bring about significant health care reform in his first term, whether respondents would favor government administered health insurance plans, and whether the respondent would consider public health care that anyone could join at any age. Opinions were sought about Sarah Palin, whether respondents heard about her resignation as Governor of Alaska, the reason she resigned, whether she would have the ability to be an effective president, whether the media was harder on her than other political figures, and whether respondents thought she would run for president in 2012. Other topics that were covered included, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, North Korea's development of weapons, Michael Jackson, the United States space program, marijuana, Barack Obama's Supreme Court Justice nominations, how the federal government should use taxpayer's money, how the deficit should be handled, personal finances, and job security. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, perceived social class, religious preference, whether the respondent considered themselves to be a born-again Christian, and voter registration status and participation history.