Tag: quinnipiac university
The Week In Polls: Obama Up After Big Wins — And More In The Presidential Race

The Week In Polls: Obama Up After Big Wins — And More In The Presidential Race

After a lot of big news, it’s also been a big week of polls.

Possibly the single biggest news in polls this week was the CNN poll showing President Obama’s approval rating at 50 percent, with 47 percent disapproval — the first time in over two years that a majority of poll respondents has approved of the job he’s doing.

The poll was conducted from June 26 to 28, capping off a very eventful week in which the president won major victories in the Supreme Court on health care reform and marriage equality — as well as his very memorable eulogy speech at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, which culminated in him leading the congregation in singing “Amazing Grace.”

In the presidential race, CNN found Jeb Bush leading nationally among Republicans with 19 percent — with Donald Trump in second place at 12 percent. Rounding out the top five are Mike Huckabee with 8 percent, and Ben Carson and Rand Paul at 7 percent each.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton dominates the field with 57 percent, followed way back by Vice President Joe Biden with 16 percent, Bernie Sanders at 14 percent, Jim Webb at 2 percent, and less than 1 percent each for Martin O’Malley and Lincoln Chafee. (Note: Biden is not currently in the race, but was tested in the poll.)

The poll also tested Clinton against a number of possible Republican opponents — and found very significant leads in all match-ups:

  • Clinton 54 percent, Bush 41 percent
  • Clinton 56 percent, Marco Rubio 39 percent
  • Clinton 56 percent, Chris Christie 37 percent.
  • Clinton 59 percent, Trump 34 percent
  • Clinton 57 percent, Scott Walker 38 percent

Meanwhile, the Quinnipiac poll of Iowa’s Democratic caucuses found Clinton leading Sanders, 52 percent to 33 percent — which is in fact huge growth for Sanders, after Clinton had previously led 60 percent to 15 percent just two months ago. Also in the poll, Biden was at 7 percent, O’Malley at 3 percent, Webb at 1 percent, and Chafee at less than 1 percent.

On the Republican side in Iowa, Walker from nearby Wisconsin leads with 18 percent, followed by Trump and Carson at 10 percent each, with Ted Cruz and Paul at 9 percent each.

Polls are also showing that the public largely agrees with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, with CNN also showing that the public agrees with the Court’s 5-4 ruling for marriage equality.

Not all is good news, though. CNN’s polling also showed that only 33 percent of Americans see the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism, compared to 57 percent who say it is a symbol of Southern pride. Not surprisingly, there is a sharp racial divide: Whites say it represents Southern pride by a margin of 66 percent to 25 percent; African-Americans say it represents racism by 72 percent to 17 percent.

On the bright side, 55 percent are in favor of removing the Confederate flag from government properties other than museums — but there is not much support for other measures, such as renaming or removing tributes to Confederate leaders and soldiers.

Photo: U.S. President Barack Obama meets with the Council of the Great City Schools Leadership in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 16, 2015 in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss efforts to strengthen educational opportunities for students in city schools. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS)

Swing State Polls Find Christie Weak Against Clinton

Swing State Polls Find Christie Weak Against Clinton

By Herb Jackson, The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) (TNS)

WASHINGTON — New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) fares worse against Democrat Hillary Clinton than other potential 2016 Republican presidential contenders in Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of crucial swing states released Wednesday.

The polls found Christie tailing Clinton by margins of 5 to 10 percentage points, while other potential candidates were in close contention in at least one of the states.

The polls matched Clinton, a Democrat and former secretary of state, against Republicans Christie, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Clinton was tied or virtually tied — meaning her lead was within the poll’s margin of error — with Bush and Paul in Virginia and with Walker and Paul in Colorado.

In all three states, Clinton’s favorability rating was far higher than the Republicans’, assistant poll director Peter A. Brown said, and Christie’s was one of the lowest.

“Several of the GOP contenders can take some solace from this poll,” Brown said. “The one GOPer for whom these numbers are a total drag is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.”

In Colorado, only 26 percent of voters had a favorable view of Christie while 47 percent of voters had an unfavorable opinion. Christie’s favorable/unfavorable rating was upside down by 28 percent to 38 percent in Iowa and 36 percent to 38 percent in Virginia.

Here’s a breakdown of head-to-head matchups for all the states if the election were held today:

In Colorado, Clinton virtually tied Paul, 43 percent to 41 percent, and Walker, 42 percent to 40 percent. She led Christie, 43 percent to 34 percent; Bush, 44 percent to 36 percent; and Huckabee, 44 percent to 39 percent.

In Iowa, Clinton topped Christie, 44 percent to 34 percent; Bush, 45 percent to 35 percent; Huckabee, 45 percent to 38 percent; Paul, 45 percent to 37 percent; and Walker, 45 percent to 35 percent.

In Virginia, Clinton and Bush tied, 42 percent to 42 percent, and virtually tied Paul, 44 percent to 42 percent. She narrowly led Christie, 44 percent to 39 percent; Huckabee, 44 percent to 41 percent; and Walker, 45 percent to 40 percent.

For the poll, live interviewers called land lines and cellphones between the fifth and fifteenth of February. The polls each had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points and surveyed 1,049 Colorado voters, 1,089 Iowa voters, and 1,074 Virginia voters.

Photo: Canada2020 via Flickr

Bail Set For Woman Accused Of Making Bomb Threats To Cancel Graduation

Bail Set For Woman Accused Of Making Bomb Threats To Cancel Graduation

By Dave Altimari, The Hartford Courant

MERIDEN, Conn. — Although a prosecutor and her public defender asked that Danielle Shea be released on a promise to appear in court, a judge set bail at $10,000 for the woman accused of phoning in bomb threats in an attempt to cancel graduation at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.

Judge Philip A. Scarpellino said he was deeply troubled that Shea, 22, twice phone in bomb threats on Sunday.

“Plus, I’m understanding that the whole year was a lie,” Scarpellino said after reviewing the Hamden police report that indicates Shea was not a student at Quinnipiac this spring, but accepted money from her mother to pay for tuition. She remained in custody Monday afternoon. The judge also said he was not confident Shea would show up for future court dates.

She is accused of phone bomb threats to Quinnipiac’s public safety department to cancel graduation so that her family would not discover she was not graduating.

Shea, 22, of Quincy, was arrested while wearing a cap and gown inside the TD Bank Sports Center, where school officials had moved the graduation for students of the College of Arts and Sciences after the initial bomb threats came in. Police were able to trace the two threatening calls to Shea’s cellphone.

Hamden police said the first call in which the female voice said “there is a bomb in the library” was made at 5:45 p.m., or about 15 minutes before graduation ceremonies for the College of Arts and Sciences were scheduled to begin.

While Hamden police and Quinnipiac police were searching the library, a second bomb threat was called in about 17 minutes later. The woman stated: “Several bombs are on campus. You haven’t cleared out graduation. That’s not a good idea.”

Police did not find any bombs in the library or anywhere else on campus.

After the second call, school officials decided to move the graduation to the arena. There were more than 5,000 people in the quad area waiting for the 388 students to get their degrees.

Police traced the calls to Shea’s phone and learned she was a former student at the university. Police did not say how they found her inside the arena. She did not have any weapons or explosives.

Hamden police Capt. Ronald Smith said several of Shea’s relatives, including her mother, were at graduation.

“The mother didn’t see her name on the graduation roster, and she panicked and called in a couple of bomb threats,” Smith said.

In an interview after her arrest, police said Shea told detectives that her mother had paid her thousands of dollars this year, money she thought was for her daughter’s education at Quinnipiac. School records show that Shea was not a student there this year.

Shea, who most recently was living in Hamden, did attend the school in 2012 and is listed as having made the dean’s list for the spring semester. To qualify for the dean’s list at Quinnipiac, a student must earn a grade-point average of at least 3.5 with no grade lower than C.

Photo: NotArt via Flickr