News Interest Index: 2010 Vote Seen as More Important Than Most

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News Interest Index: 2010 Vote Seen as More Important Than Most

About two-thirds of the public sees coverage of this year's elections as focused primarily on strategy and conflict rather than candidate positions, while a comparable percentage says the 2010 congressional elections are more important than most.

Nearly six-in-ten (58%) say news coverage of politics makes them angry. Still, few (36%) say election news makes them feel depressed. More than half (55%) say this year's elections have been "pretty interesting", according to the latest News Interest Index survey of 1,005 adults conducted Sept. 16-19 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Partisan differences in responses to these questions provide further evidence of greater engagement and enthusiasm among Republicans this year. For example, though the public is divided on whether they feel "burned out" about politics and elections (48% agree, 49% disagree), Democrats are much more likely to agree with this statement (54%) than are Republicans (40%).

Read the full report, 2010 Vote Seen as More Important Than Most on the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press' Web site.

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