*ONLINE* guide to public opinion and electoral behavior: 1948-2002

This 'National Election Studies' site is maintained by the University of Michigan and contains comprehensive tables and graphs regarding public opinion and electoral behavior for the years 1948-2002.

In it's own words, "NES conducts national surveys of the American electorate in presidential and midterm election years and carries out research and development work through pilot studies in odd-numbered years. The NES time-series now encompasses 23 biennial election studies spanning five decades. The longevity of the NES time-series greatly enhances the utility of the data, since measures can be pooled over time, and both long-term trends and the political impact of historical events can be identified."

http://www.umich.edu/~nes/nesguide/nesguide.htm

Consult or ignore, as you wish. :)

It provides hard data, describes the subject sample, methodolgy, etc., and it's fully-searchable. It's also non-partisan. :)

by not covering those pesky minor parties, too. :eyes:

(edit) Oh...is that what you meant by 'non-partisan'? :evilgrin:

That <4% of the vote those 40 parties get nationally is by far the most important component of electoral politics....

-- historical performance is no guarantee of future performance, so buyer beware.

Edit: I'm still gonna check it out, tho. ;)

True, but at least it's a non-partisan site with recent, comprehensive information everyone here can access, so we're not talking apples and oranges. :hi: