More Americans Plugged Into Political News

Americans are paying closer attention to political news today than in any year without a presidential election since Gallup began regularly tracking this measure in 2001. The 36% of Americans who today say they follow news about national politics "very closely" is down from the record-high 43% Gallup found in September 2008, but matches the level found in September 2004 -- two polls conducted during presidential election years. The previous high for a year without a presidential election was 31% in 2006 -- a midterm election year. The previous high for a year without a national election was 30%, in 2007. Apart from the quadrennial spike in news attention around presidential elections, Americans' focus on political news has gradually increased since 2001, when the percentage paying very close attention averaged 23%.