Since 2004, Public Opinion Strategies has been the Republican pollster on the bipartisan polling team conducting The NBC News Poll. The Democratic pollster is Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates. The NBC News Poll is one of the most respected public surveys of public opinion on political, cultural, and economic issues.
The Poll began in 1989 and today includes roughly ten national surveys a year with between 10,000 to 13,000 interviews a year, equal to more than 150,000 interviews since Public Opinion Strategies began to partner on this work. Each year these interviews are merged into an invaluable data set that tracks key demographic and attitudinal changes over time.
Our Work: We poll on an almost monthly basis, monitoring attitudes about the direction of the country, presidential approval, voter attitudes toward the two political parties, and perception of the economy. While the survey provides a timely look each month at breaking news stories, its design acts as a broad monitor of American attitudes over time on an array of issues, such as the role of government, immigration, trade policy, guns, race relations, abortion, gay rights and other prominent social issues.
Results: This longitudinal approach enables The NBC News Poll to provide some of the first reporting of important public opinion trends, such as the sharp increase in support for gay marriage, the lowering of support for the death penalty, the rising influence of the Millennial generation and Latinos, the drop off in regular church attendance and the rise of the “none,” those respondents who cite having no religious preference. Importantly, The Poll has provided sharp evidence of the growing alienation and anger of citizens toward pubic institutions that undergirds today’s politics.
The body of work of The NBC News Poll over a generation makes it a lasting resource in listening and learning from the American electorate about our government, our politics, and the times in which we live.
