ABC News/Washington Post Monthly Poll, October 2010

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This poll, fielded October 25-28, 2010, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling the presidency and the economy, how closely they were following the congressional election, what the chances were that they would vote in the upcoming congressional election, which party they would vote for in their congressional district, whether they normally vote in mid-term elections, whether they were inclined to vote to re-elect their representative in Congress, and whether or not they thought it would be a good thing if control of Congress switched from the Democrats to the Republicans after the November elections. Information was collected on whether respondents approved of the way the United States Congress was doing its job, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable impression of Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner, which party they trusted more to do a better job in coping with the main problems the nation faces over the next few years, which political party they trusted to do a better job handling the economy, and whether they thought that things in this country were generally going in the right direction. Respondents were queried on what they thought was a bigger risk, the Democrats putting in place too many government regulations or the Republicans not putting enough government regulations in place, whether they favored smaller government with fewer services or larger government with more services, and whether they had recently been contacted by an organization working in support of a candidate for Congress, asking for their vote. Respondents were also asked how they would describe the state of the nation's economy, whether they thought the economy was getting better or worse, whether they supported the political movement known as the Tea Party, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable impression of Sarah Palin and whether they thought Palin was qualified to serve as president. Finally, respondents were asked how important they thought it was to know who pays for campaign advertisements, who they would vote for if the candidates for president were Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and whether they favored or opposed legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, household income, education level, political party affiliation, political philosophy, political ideology, religious preference, union membership, and whether the respondent is a born-again Christian.