CBS News Monthly Poll #3, January 2007

This poll, fielded January 18-21, 2007, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way President George W. Bush was handling the presidency. They were also asked to give their opinions on other issues such as foreign policy, to rate the condition of the national economy, to identify the most important problem facing the country, and to say whether they approved of the way Congress was handling its job. Opinions were solicited on the newly elected Congress, whether the United States was ready to elect a woman or a Black president, and which candidates respondents would vote for in the 2008 presidential race. A series of questions asked for respondents' opinions of Vice President Dick Cheney, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and the potential 2008 Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. Information was collected on the Iraq war, including whether the United States did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq, whether the number of United States troops should be increased, whether Congress should block funding for the war in Iraq, how important a stable democracy in Iraq is to the security interests of the United States, and whether the United States' involvement in the Iraq War is comparable to its involvement in the Vietnam War. Information was also collected on whether respondents watched or listened to President Bush's speech earlier in the month on the war in Iraq, whether they were going to watch President Bush's State of the Union address on January 23, and which issues they would like Bush to spend more time talking about. Additional topics include the Social Security system, tax cuts, the Duke University lacrosse team sexual harassment case, embryonic stem cell research, abortion, global warming, immigration, and racial bias within the United States criminal justice system. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, education level, household income, marital status, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, and the presence of children and household members between the ages of 18 and 24.