“Public opinion” on The Daily Caller

WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s wild winter has brought everyday life to a halt for people from Boston to Austin, but freezing temperatures are still a good excuse for many Americans to cuddle, according to a new poll. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Buoyed by a federal court ruling, Senate Republicans maneuvered for a vote to repeal the year-old health care law on Tuesday while the party’s potential White House contenders took turns urging them on. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans give higher marks to President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans after a holiday season of compromise paid dividends for both, according to the latest Associated Press-GfK poll. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first baby boomers will be old enough to qualify for Medicare Jan. 1, and many fear the program’s obituary will be written before their own. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year got off to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad start. (more)

ATLANTA (AP) — An overwhelming majority of Americans are frustrated that it’s too difficult to get rid of bad teachers, while most also believe that teachers aren’t paid enough, a new poll shows. (more)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement has politicians sweeping streets to show community spirit, activists distributing chocolates and cards signed “from Hamas with love” and police officers visiting homes and schools to soften the often harsh image of the security forces. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sarah Palin is the most polarizing of the potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates, while impressions of Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney lean more positive, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. As for the rest — Pawlenty, Barbour, Thune, Daniels — most Americans say, “Who?” (more)

It’s a common reaction during election campaigns. If your candidate is ahead in the polls, the polls are accurate. If he or she is behind, they’re inaccurate. Most polls tell us Republicans will win big on November 2, gaining as many as 50 to 60 House seats, 7 or 8 Senate seats, and 7 governorships. Some Republican political operatives predict that their party will do even better, picking up 70-plus seats in the House and ten or more seats in the Senate. A few pollsters agree that’s within the realm of possibility, but most estimates are more conservative. We’ll soon know who got it right, but if the higher estimates prove correct, here’s the most likely reason why. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic voters are closely divided over whether President Barack Obama should be challenged within the party for a second term in 2012, an Associated Press-Knowledge Networks Poll finds. (more)

PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup finds 21% of Americans satisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time. If that figure does not improve considerably in the next two weeks, it would be the lowest level of U.S. satisfaction Gallup has measured at the time of a midterm election in more than 30 years of tracking this measure. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans in the first midterm elections of President Barack Obama’s presidency is no myth — and his party may suffer hugely in two weeks because of it. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obamamania that gripped college campuses two years ago is gone. (more)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — It’s make-or-break time in Afghanistan. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Senate hopeful Christine O’Donnell says her first priority if elected would be to help the GOP block Democrats’ priorities in a lame-duck session. (more)

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Republican Meg Whitman struggled to steady her campaign for California governor after disclosures about her former housekeeper — an illegal immigrant — threatened to cut into her support among Latinos just weeks before election day. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has frequently reminded Americans that the nation’s economic crisis began under George W. Bush, a largely unpopular and universally known foil. Now all but ignoring Bush, Obama is criticizing a Republican most voters have never heard of: House Minority Leader John Boehner. (more)

MEXICO CITY — The movie that Mexican director Luis Estrada is putting out for his country’s bicentennial is bluntly named “Hell.” (more)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — President Barack Obama doesn’t go there anymore. (more)

SEATTLE (AP) — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has taken another baby step toward increased transparency, acknowledging in its annual report that the world’s largest charitable foundation is too secretive and hard to work with. (more)