Gallup Poll

With scandals besetting some of the nation's most respected media outlets, why would anyone trust what they read in newspapers and magazines or what they see on television news programs? Many Americans don't. A new Gallup Poll, based on surveys taken last week, found that media credibility rests at its lowest point in decades. Just 44 percent of Americans now say they are confident that U.S. news outlets are presenting the news accurately and completely. That's down from 54 percent a year ago -- about the same as it had been for seven years.

Larry Evans nods in agreement when he hears that many of his fellow Marylanders are struggling to put food on the table. Evans, out of work since July, says he isn't surprised the numbers have increased - and that he's not the only one to sometimes face an empty plate. "Food-wise, it's been tough," Evans said. "My sister has been a big help, but after a while, you can only go so far with that." Evans, 52, was eating lunch at Bel Air United Methodist Church courtesy of Manna House, which has provided a free meal and a bag of groceries to patrons each Wednesday for the past 20 years.

Beer rules. It is the alcoholic beverage we Americans say we drink most often, besting wine, its closest competitor, by double digits. That was my take after reading the 2008 Gallup Poll of consumption habits, released last week. It found that 42 percent of the U.S. drinkers surveyed said they most often consumed beer, compared with 31 percent who picked wine and 23 percent who preferred spirits. Not so long ago, the same poll had beer playing second fiddle to wine. Back in 2005, wine had knocked beer out of first place.

Beer rules. It is the alcoholic beverage we Americans say we drink most often, besting wine, its closest competitor, by double digits. That was my take after reading the 2008 Gallup Poll of consumption habits, released last week. It found that 42 percent of the U.S. drinkers surveyed said they most often consumed beer, compared with 31 percent who picked wine and 23 percent who preferred spirits. Not so long ago, the same poll had beer playing second fiddle to wine. Back in 2005, wine had knocked beer out of first place.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Public opposition to the war in Iraq is at an all-time high - and support for President Bush's handling of the broader war against terrorism is at an all-time low - after the deadliest month for U.S. troops and revelations about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American forces. The Gallup Poll of 1,000 adults nationwide released yesterday revealed across-the-board problems for the president, with his approval slipping on concerns ranging from homeland security to foreign policy to the economy.

ATLANTA -- So far, Iraq has dominated the preliminary campaigning for the 2008 presidential election. On the Democratic side, rabid critics of the war have failed to force an apology out of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for her 2002 vote authorizing military force. On the Republican side, candidates try to find phrasing that distances them from the quagmire without expressly criticizing President Bush. But the war won't be the only thing on voters' minds when they head to the polls a year and a half from now. Iraq and terrorism will be important, of course - magnified if jihadists manage another successful attack on American soil.

At least three newspapers and a couple of national political newspaper columnists plus several representatives of conservative political organizations have called on President Bush to announce he will not seek re-election. No wonder. The president is down to 29 percent in the Gallup Poll's "job approval" survey. No president has ever been re-elected after falling that low.But if Mr. Bush quits -- and we're not suggesting for a moment that he should -- who would Republicans replace him with?

To be fair to Gerald R. Ford, his presidency was no easy task. Never elected chief executive, Mr. Ford was appointed vice president after Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace, and he assumed the helm as the nation's 38th president at the height of the Watergate scandal that precipitated Richard M. Nixon's resignation. Mr. Ford's subsequent - and highly controversial - pardon of Mr. Nixon didn't help matters much, and many Americans never got over that decision. But Mr. Ford served the nation during a crucial transition and helped the country heal from Watergate's wounds.

GEORGE ROMNEY died last week running in place on a treadmill. Just like his presidential campaign. Twenty-eight years ago today the same thing happened to his presidential ambitions.Romney was the governor of Michigan in 1967. He was the first Republican to announce he was running for the 1968 presidential nomination. The conservative wing of the party had taken a drubbing in 1964, and the liberal Romney was now the early front-runner.But his campaign never got out of the treadmill stage.

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kerry's post-convention "bump" is looking more like a blip. The Democratic nominee has gained credibility as a leader, according to polling conducted after last week's Boston convention. A majority of the nation's voters now say they trust Kerry more than President Bush to handle the job of commander in chief, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. But Kerry's expected post-convention gain in head-to-head match-ups with the president appears to have been modest and short-lived, if it existed at all. "Clearly, there is no convention bounce for Kerry," Gallup senior editor David W. Moore concluded in an analysis released yesterday.

ATLANTA -- So far, Iraq has dominated the preliminary campaigning for the 2008 presidential election. On the Democratic side, rabid critics of the war have failed to force an apology out of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for her 2002 vote authorizing military force. On the Republican side, candidates try to find phrasing that distances them from the quagmire without expressly criticizing President Bush. But the war won't be the only thing on voters' minds when they head to the polls a year and a half from now. Iraq and terrorism will be important, of course - magnified if jihadists manage another successful attack on American soil.

To be fair to Gerald R. Ford, his presidency was no easy task. Never elected chief executive, Mr. Ford was appointed vice president after Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace, and he assumed the helm as the nation's 38th president at the height of the Watergate scandal that precipitated Richard M. Nixon's resignation. Mr. Ford's subsequent - and highly controversial - pardon of Mr. Nixon didn't help matters much, and many Americans never got over that decision. But Mr. Ford served the nation during a crucial transition and helped the country heal from Watergate's wounds.

The new watchword phrase for the war is "the way forward in Iraq." To extricate himself from the quicksand of bad news from that conflict, President Bush came up with the theme just before his surprise June 13 visit to Baghdad. He told reporters days earlier that he was going to Camp David "with a lot of my Cabinet members to discuss the way forward in Iraq, to analyze the new government, to look carefully at what their blueprint for the future looks like, and to figure out how we can help."

At the height of the 1999 stock market frenzy, when betting on initial offerings of Internet companies with no profits seemed a sure thing, plenty of people still put their money on another roll of the dice. A survey by the Consumer Federation of America found that 27 percent of respondents said their best chance of accumulating a half-million dollars or more during their lifetimes was a lottery or sweepstakes win. Fast forward to 2005, when market expectations are far humbler. The worldwide gaming industry has soared: Two-thirds of adult Americans in a Gallup poll this year said they had gambled in the previous 12 months, and U.S. lottery players spent $49 billion in 2004.

It can be argued that Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's mission since taking office six years ago has been to save the soul of his struggling city. What are those austere "Believe" stickers and signs adorning bumpers and buildings if not testaments to the spiritual quest behind fighting violent crime, drug addiction and population loss? But do city statistics demonstrating crime reduction, drug treatment improvements and an influx of new development relay whether residents believe Baltimore is improving?

WASHINGTON - George W. Bush once gave me some good advice - which I never got the opportunity to use. Now I'd like to return the favor. Back when he picked me to be secretary of labor in 2001, the then-president-elect sat me down in the Texas governor's mansion for a little heart-to-heart talk. "You know they're going to come after you in the Senate confirmation hearings," he said, fully aware that organized labor and other left-leaning groups vociferously opposed my nomination. "I know you can take care of yourself.

The new watchword phrase for the war is "the way forward in Iraq." To extricate himself from the quicksand of bad news from that conflict, President Bush came up with the theme just before his surprise June 13 visit to Baghdad. He told reporters days earlier that he was going to Camp David "with a lot of my Cabinet members to discuss the way forward in Iraq, to analyze the new government, to look carefully at what their blueprint for the future looks like, and to figure out how we can help."

WASHINGTON - George W. Bush once gave me some good advice - which I never got the opportunity to use. Now I'd like to return the favor. Back when he picked me to be secretary of labor in 2001, the then-president-elect sat me down in the Texas governor's mansion for a little heart-to-heart talk. "You know they're going to come after you in the Senate confirmation hearings," he said, fully aware that organized labor and other left-leaning groups vociferously opposed my nomination. "I know you can take care of yourself.

With scandals besetting some of the nation's most respected media outlets, why would anyone trust what they read in newspapers and magazines or what they see on television news programs? Many Americans don't. A new Gallup Poll, based on surveys taken last week, found that media credibility rests at its lowest point in decades. Just 44 percent of Americans now say they are confident that U.S. news outlets are presenting the news accurately and completely. That's down from 54 percent a year ago -- about the same as it had been for seven years.

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kerry's post-convention "bump" is looking more like a blip. The Democratic nominee has gained credibility as a leader, according to polling conducted after last week's Boston convention. A majority of the nation's voters now say they trust Kerry more than President Bush to handle the job of commander in chief, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. But Kerry's expected post-convention gain in head-to-head match-ups with the president appears to have been modest and short-lived, if it existed at all. "Clearly, there is no convention bounce for Kerry," Gallup senior editor David W. Moore concluded in an analysis released yesterday.