Americans Happy with Obama’s State of the Union Address:
Exclusive New Data From SurveyMonkey and MSNBC

Viewers Approve of President’s Plan to Shift More of the Tax Burden to the Wealthy

PALO ALTO, Calif.--()--A big majority (73%) of Americans who watched Tuesday’s State of the Union were happy with President Obama’s speech and supportive of the direction he’s trying to take the country, according to an exclusive new MSNBC/SurveyMonkey poll. The online survey, which polled more than 1,400 American adults, including 650 speech viewers, in the 2 hours following the State of the Union, measured reactions to President Obama’s annual address.

This marks the second collaboration between NBC News and SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading online survey platform, since the announcement of their partnership in October. Key findings among viewers include:

  • 73 percent of viewers reported being enthusiastic or satisfied with the State of the Union address, compared with 19 percent who were dissatisfied and 6 percent who were angry.
  • 32 percent of viewers said that jobs and economic growth were the most important issues for President Obama and Congress to address this year, followed by terrorism (16%), education (12%), and immigration (11%).
  • 50 percent of viewers felt that Obama spent enough time focusing on the issue that is most important to them, and about as many (47%) wished he had talked more about their top concern.
  • 64 percent of viewers agreed that Obama’s tax increases on the wealthy are a good idea since the wealthy can afford to help pay more for programs and government operations. In contrast, 32 percent believed tax increases are a bad idea because they will end up taking money from the wealthy that they could otherwise invest to help grow the economy.
  • 68 percent of viewers felt that in general, as president, Obama is focused on the right things, while just 32 percent said the same about Republicans in Congress.
  • 38 percent of viewers identified themselves as Democrats, 16 percent as Republicans, and 31 percent as Independents – continuing a tradition where members of the president’s party are more likely to tune into the annual address.

The “second-screen” was a big part of the speech-watching experience this year. Nearly three in 10 (28%) of all those tuning in – jumping to 41 percent among younger viewers – said they simultaneously followed related commentary on social media.

The large majority (77%) of viewers still turned to television to watch the speech, while 14 percent streamed it on the Internet and 8 percent listened on the radio. Among those who did not tune in to the State of the Union address, 21 percent said they chose not to watch because they don’t like Obama, and a similar proportion (23%) said they had other stuff to do.

Survey Methodology

The survey was conducted Tuesday, Jan. 20 using SurveyMonkey, and weighted for age, race, sex, education, and region to match U.S. Census data. A total of 1,429 U.S. adults completed surveys, including 651 who watched or listened to the president’s address. Interviews were completed in the two hours following the speech. Those who completed the survey were selected from the more than two million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. The survey has an error margin of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points for the full sample and 5.8 points for speech-watchers, calculated using bootstrapped confidence intervals.

Survey results, including polling methods, are online here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxxpEMTW3kArSDkwdHJFV05XWmc/view?usp=sharing

About SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is the world's leading online survey platform, with more than 2 million survey responses every day. SurveyMonkey has revolutionized the way people give and take feedback, making it accessible, easy and affordable for everyone. The company was founded in 1999 with a focus on helping people make better decisions, and has built technology based on over 15 years of experience in survey methodology and web development. Customers include 99% of the Fortune 500, academic institutions, organizations and neighborhood soccer leagues everywhere. The company has over 450 employees globally, with headquarters in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, visit www.surveymonkey.com.

Contacts

For SurveyMonkey:
Bennett Porter
bennett@surveymonkey.com
or
SutherlandGold for SurveyMonkey
Donna Brown, 415-520-8835
dbrown@sutherlandgold.com

Contacts

For SurveyMonkey:
Bennett Porter
bennett@surveymonkey.com
or
SutherlandGold for SurveyMonkey
Donna Brown, 415-520-8835
dbrown@sutherlandgold.com