Inside the Beltway: Poll shows popularity of tattooing across all ages, groups

NEWS AND OPINION:

Tattoos seem to be the norm these days. And of course there’s a poll to lend insight into this phenomenon and its dynamics.

“Tattoos have become a more common sight in workplaces around the United States, even making appearances among members of the U.S. House and Senate. Amid this shift, a large majority of U.S. adults say society has become more accepting of people with tattoos in recent decades. And 32% of adults have a tattoo themselves, including 22% who have more than one,” reports a unique survey conducted by the Pew Research Center itself.

Some complex dynamics are at work.

Seven in 10 people who are tattooed say the reason they got a tattoo in the first place was “to remember or honor someone or something,” while 47% say their tattoo is to “make a statement” about their beliefs. A third feel that a tattoo improves their appearance.

Ink admiration is also bipartisan.

“There are no major differences by political party or whether Americans live in an urban, suburban or rural community. A third of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have a tattoo, as do 32% of Republicans and Republican leaners. And roughly a third of adults across urban, suburban and rural areas report having a tattoo. There are no differences between veterans and non-veterans, either,” the poll analysis said.

“Surprisingly, perhaps, 38% of women say they have at least one tattoo, compared with 27% of men. This includes 56% of women ages 18 to 29 and 53% of women ages 30 to 49. In addition, 39% of Black Americans have a tattoo, compared with 35% of Hispanics, 32% of Whites and 14% of Asian Americans,” the poll found.

And last but not least, only 24% of the respondents say they regret getting one or more of their tattoos. The poll of 8,480 U.S. adults was conducted July 10-16 and released Aug. 15.

FAULTY COVERAGE

The news media appears to have a love-hate relationship with former President Donald Trump. They love to cover him, but they hate to report anything positive about him.

Case in point: The Media Research Center — a conservative press watchdog — reviewed every ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscast from Jan. 1 through July 31, including weekends, with a focus on coverage of Mr. Trump.

Here’s what the group found.

“Mr. Trump has received a staggering 664 minutes of evening news coverage — more than five times that of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (126 minutes), and ten times that of former Vice President Mike Pence (63 minutes). Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott received 17 and 12 minutes of airtime, respectively,” the study said.

“None of the other candidates received even 10 minutes of airtime during the seven months we examined,” the report stated.

Then there is the tone.

“The vast majority of Trump’s coverage (90%) has been negative, and heavily focused on the legal allegations made against him by Democratic prosecutors and the Biden Justice Department. But the networks’ coverage of Trump’s top GOP opponent, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, was nearly as bad (78% negative), suggesting a media hostility that extends beyond Trump himself to other Republican candidates and their conservative policy positions,” the study said.

FAULTY SCIENCE

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise appears weary of President Biden’s climate agenda, a plan that typically dwells on global warming, zero emissions goals, unreasonable regulations, renewable energy, a preoccupation with environmental concerns, and other things.

The Louisiana Republican has some advice for the Biden administration.

“It’s about time that we start following the real science — not the political science — the actual science that talks about whether or not this stuff is working,” Mr. Scalise told the Fox Business Network.

“All these leftist nuts who want to wreck economies, they also love trash in America. They will go find a microphone. They’ll fly across to the globe on a private jet to go tell you how bad America is,” Mr. Scalise advised.

BERNIE ON THE MOVE

New Hampshire is the destination of choice for some politicians besides Republican presidential candidates.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a self-described democratic socialist, will visit the Granite State on Saturday and deliver a speech titled “The Agenda America Needs” at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown.

“We invited him — but he’s coming here for a reason. And I think it opens up the door for a lot of other thoughts about whether or not Biden’s going to be the nominee, whether or not Biden is going to be running in this election,” New Hampshire Institute of Politics executive director Neal Levesque told radio host Jack Heath.

“And the White House, I’m sure, is very interested in the fact that he’s coming here. It’s a national story,” Mr. Levesque said.

FOXIFIED

In the week of Aug. 14-21, Fox News Channel led the competition in prime time, earning a daily average of 1.7 million viewers, compared with MSNBC with 1.6 million and CNN with 770,000.

The network also marked 131 consecutive weeks leading the entire cable realm throughout the day, with an average audience of 1.1 million, compared with MSNBC with 1 million, CNN with 551,000, ESPN with 451,000 and HGTV with 438,000 to round out the top five. 
Fox News also had 62 of the top 100 cable news telecasts for the week.

Among the standout programs: “The Five,” with an average daily audience of 2.6 million, “Hannity” with 2.1 million and “Jesse Watters Primetime” with 1.8 million. On weekends, “Life, Liberty and Levin” enjoyed the largest audience with 1.3 million viewers.

POLL DU JOUR

• 26% of U.S. adults think opioids and fentanyl are the “No. 1 threat to American public health at this moment.”

• 23% think obesity is the No. 1 threat.

• 20% think access to guns or firearms is the No. 1 threat.

• 11% cite cancer.

• 3% cite use of smoking or tobacco products.

• 3% cite unsafe roads or driving in general.

• 2% cite the coronavirus.

• 2% cite alcohol abuse.

• 7% cite some other cause.

SOURCE: An Axios-Ipsos American Health Index poll of 1,162 U.S. adults conducted Aug. 11-14.