CBS News Monthly Poll, March 2010

This poll, fielded March 18-22, 2010, is 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 that Barack Obama was handling his job as president, the economy, and health care, whether they approved of the way Congress was handling its job, and whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Respondents were queried on how closely they had been following the health care legislation being debated in Congress, whether they approved of health care reform, whether they thought that the health care reform bill would personally effect them, whether they understood the health care reform bill, and whether they thought that the health care bill would make health care better or worse in the next few years. Respondents were also asked whether they thought that the health care reform bill would make sure that health insurance companies would provide health coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions, help control the cost of health care premiums, and lead to too much government involvement in the health care system. Information was collected on whether respondents thought Congress spent too much time dealing with health care reform, whether they thought that Republicans and Democrats have been trying to pass or defeat the health care bill because it was good policy or mainly for political reasons, and whether they thought that the rules and procedures used in Congress to pass health care reform were fair or not. Respondents were also asked how they thought things were going for the United States in its efforts to bring stability and order to Iraq, how they thought things were going for the United States in the war in Afghanistan, and their views on abortion. Finally, respondents were asked whether they had some form of health insurance and whether they were covered by health insurance through an employer, a union, a personal plan, or through Medicare or Medicaid. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, and whether respondents thought of themselves as born again Christians.