That’s the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended May 12. The index, which is based on Americans’ opinions about the economy, the buying climate and their own finances, fell from minus 29.5 in the prior week. It can...
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Photograph by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
Customers shop at a Macy's Inc. store in New York.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: -30.2
Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images
President Barack Obama, left, and former President George W. Bush arrive at the opening ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on April 25, 2013 in Dallas, Texas.
Obama’s Second Term vs. Bush’s Second Term: Job Approval #s
That second term can be a real problem. On May 19, 2005, the Pew Research Center reported that then-President George W. Bush’s popularity was slipping: “Americans are critical of President Bush’s job performance in many policy areas, but negative opinions...
Read more »Americans Can’t Get No Satisfaction
Just 24 percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going, down from 30 percent in April, according to the Gallup Poll. The rate of satisfaction has average 25 percent so far this year. Most Americans surveyed were...
Read more »Reignited Benghazi Debate Doesn’t Sway Public Opinion
Congressional Republicans’ renewed focus on the 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, has yet to transform the matter into a dominant public concern, according to two new polls. The surveys show limited interest in what some Republicans are calling...
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Photograph by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
President Barack Obama listens to a question during a press conference in the East Room of the White House on May 7, 2013 in Washington.
Obama’s Effectiveness Slips: Pew Poll
Gridlock doesn’t play well in Peoria. President Barack Obama’s job approval — 51 percent in a Pew Research Center survey released today — has gained a few points since March, when Pew found 47 percent public support. Yet six months...
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Photograph by Mic Smith/AP Photo
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, center, speaks with voters, Joan Cobb, at left, and her father Harold Turner, at right, and reporters at Orlando's Pizza in Daniel Island, S.C., on May 6, 2013.
Sanford ‘Worn Out’ on ‘Judgment Day’
Count Mark Sanford as a vote against expanding background checks for gun-buyers. Count Sanford as a vote against the immigration bill from a bipartisan group of senators. That’s if the vote-count in South Carolina’s special congressional election today goes the...
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Photograph by Richard Ellis/Getty Images
Republican candidate for the open Congressional seat of South Carolina, Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, greets U.S. House of Representatives Democratic candidate for the state of South Carolina Elizabeth Colbert Busch following their debate at the Citadel on April 29, 2013 in Charleston.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: 58%
That’s the share of the vote Republican Mitt Romney received last year in South Carolina’s 1st District, which is hosting a special House election today (read about that race and the broader fight for control of the House here). The...
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Photograph by Richard Ellis/Getty Images
Republican candidate for the open Congressional seat of South Carolina, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, greets House of Representatives Democratic candidate for the state of South Carolina Elizabeth Colbert Busch before their debate at the Citadel on April 29, 2013 in Charleston, South Carolina.
Sanford-Busch Tie in Election-Eve Poll
On the eve of a widely watched special congressional election in South Carolina, the Republican former governor who famously went missing with a mistress some time ago has drawn even in a survey of voters weighing Mark Sanford versus Democrat...
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Photograph by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Jon Bon Jovi attend the Overdose Prevention Act Bill signing at Barnert Medical Arts Complex on May 2, 2013 in Paterson, New Jersey.
Chris Christie’s Bon Jovi Gig — Latest in Long Parade of Democrats
Gov. Chris Christie, the New Jersey Republican who took political shots for embracing President Barack Obama days after Hurricane Sandy, brought in a little star power today as rocker Jon Bon Jovi co-headlined a bill-signing ceremony. The event, at which...
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Photograph by Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the Vital Voices Global Awards ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington on April 2, 2013.
Hillary Clinton Isn’t Only Woman Who Could Be President
At this point in time, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the overwhelming frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 if she decides to run, according to a Quinnipiac University poll out today. If she doesn’t run, the...
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Contributors
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Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
