President Obama's Performance on the Economy Is Hurting His Standing Among Key Voting Blocs.

CALGARY — A new poll shows that concern about the environment around the world is at a 20-year-low, pushed down by a bigger worry: the weak economy. When Toronto-based GlobeScan asked 22,812 people in 22 countries, including the U.S. and Canada, how worried they were about six environmental problems — air pollution, water pollution, species loss, automobile emissions, fresh water shortages, and climate change — fewer people said they now consider them ‘very serious’ than at any other time since tracking began 20 years ago.

As many as seven in 10 Florida voters support a state constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana -- more than enough to ensure passage and possibly affect the governor's race -- according to a new poll from a group trying to put the measure on the 2014 ballot.

US voters apparently favor President Barack Obama’s energy policy over the energy independence plan unveiled by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, according to two new polls conducted this week.  According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, 49% of registered voters surveyed preferred Obama’s energy policy, while 41% preferred Romney’s. Voters were specifically asked who they trust more to come through with a successful energy policy.

By Simon Johnson President Obama is embarked on a major charm offensive with regard to the business sector, as seen for example in the appointments of Bill Daley (ex-JP Morgan; now White House chief of staff) and Jeff Immelt (still head of GE, now also the president’s top outside economic adviser). This should not be an uphill struggle – much of the corporate sector, particularly bigger and more global businesses, is doing well in terms of profits and presumably C-suite remuneration.

Sixty percent of Germans believe the euro is not a good idea, according to a poll released Sunday in a German news magazine, nearly a decade after euro coins and notes were introduced.Eighty-five percent of those questioned said they believed the euro had driven up prices, according to the poll by TNS Emnid conducted for Monday's edition of Focus magazine.Three-quarters of the 1,000 people questioned also said they believed the old currency, the deutschmark, was more solid as it had proven more stable against other currencies.

The latest nationwide poll of likely voters by Zogby Analytics shows a majority (51%) approving of President Barack Obama's job performance. A substantial minority (46%) disapprove of his performance. The new Zogby Poll, conducted online of a random sample of 1500 likely voters on February 27, reveals that the President is holding on to the base of supporters that re-elected him last November.

There has been a vast and important change of mind among the electorate, regarding the issue of taxes.