The Guardian hit the nail on the head this week while analyzing polls this week: The most damaging effects of the current spate of scandals is the erosion of trust in government. Trusting government is the basis of the President’s agenda.
- NSA Verizon. (New!) Surveillance is the most serious of these scandals, according to Rasmussen polls, which gives this one the edge.
- IRS. (Last week: 2) There hasn’t been much new news this week, but Americans still care.
- NSA PRISM. (Last week: 1) Edward Snowden pushes this lower on the list, as does the fact that many reasonable Americans feel like spying on foreigners is an acceptable counter-terrorism measure.
- Benghazi. (Last week: 4) Americans may not care as much about it, but they do think that there was a cover up surrounding the events in Benghazi. Worse, they believe the cover up was politically motivated.
- DOJ. (Last week: 3) The Rasmussen poll linked above shows that Americans find this among the least serious scandals, but bet on ongoing media coverage.
Jim Eltringham 