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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- More than a decade into her tenure as chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel has a 2-to-1 more positive image among U.S. Democrats than among Republicans. Fifty-five percent of Democrats say they have a favorable opinion, compared with 23% of Republicans. Many Americans (41%) say they don't know enough about her to have an opinion.

Americans Have Mixed Reaction to German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of German Chancellor Angela Merkel?

These findings, from a June 7-11 Gallup poll, represent Gallup's first measure of Merkel's image in the U.S.

Merkel, a former research scientist, has been in power since late 2005, when George W. Bush was in the White House. The two leaders enjoyed good relations while Bush was in office, and that goodwill continued when Barack Obama became president. Obama said Merkel was his "closest international partner" during his eight years in the White House. Merkel was Time magazine's "Person of the Year" in 2015 in recognition of her stewardship over a troubled European Union economy.

Earlier this year, Merkel traveled to Washington to meet with President Donald Trump. She also interacted with the president during the G-7 summit last month. The summit was contentious due to Trump's refusal to back the Paris climate agreement, which took effect last year.

Perhaps reflecting Merkel's distant relationship with Trump and her closer ties to Obama, Democrats' views of Merkel are much more positive than Republicans'. A majority of Democrats (55%) have a favorable opinion of the German chancellor, while 10% have an unfavorable opinion. Independents' views (37% favorable, 21% unfavorable) are roughly the same as the national average.

This support among U.S. Democrats is unique partly because Merkel's Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union party is considered "right of center" in Germany -- though Merkel's close association with Obama may endear her to Democrats in the U.S. despite her political leanings in Germany.

The last time Gallup asked about a German chancellor was when Gerhard Schroeder had just been re-elected in 2002 after a single four-year term, far less than Merkel's 11-year tenure today. At that time, 16% in the U.S. viewed Schroeder favorably and 22% unfavorably, with 62% expressing no opinion.

Postgraduates Favor Merkel Most

Americans' familiarity with Merkel varies by education level. While 20% of those with postgraduate education have never heard of or have no opinion of Merkel, this jumps to 54% among those with a high school diploma or less.

Americans' Favorable Ratings of Angela Merkel, by Education

Those with more education are significantly more likely than those with less education to view Merkel favorably.

Bottom Line

Despite the U.S. media covering Angela Merkel more often over the past few months, more than two in five U.S. adults do not know who she is or have no opinion of her. She is likely to remain in the news throughout 2017, and beyond, if her party wins the German federal election on Sept. 24.

Merkel is a pivotal figure in the current struggles over the future of the European Union. She will act as the point person for the EU when it negotiates the United Kingdom's departure after the 2016 Brexit vote.

Trump's opponents and critics have described Angela Merkel as "the leader of the free world" since he took office. It remains to be seen, however, if this so-called free world leader will ever become a household name in the United States.

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted June 7-11, 2017, with a random sample of 1,009 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.

View survey methodology, complete question responses and trends.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.

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Angela Merkel Viewed More Positively Among Democrats Than GOP - Gallup

The annual Congressional Baseball Game pits Republicans against Democrats, but this year the focus has turned to showing unity in the wake of the shooting. Interest in the charity baseball game has skyrocketed in the aftermath of the shooting, as staffers and lawmakers look to rally around Scalise and the three others who were shot: a congressional staffer, a lobbyist and a Capitol Police special agent.

At the end of the game when Democratic manager Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Doyle was presented the winning trophy, he called Republican manager Texas Rep. Joe Barton to join him. Doyle gave the winning trophy back to the Republicans to put in Scalise's office.

There were 24,959 tickets sold, which was a record for the game that was first played in 1909. More than $1 million has been raised this year for Congressional Sports for Charity. Ivanka Trump, joined by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and her two eldest children Arabella and Joseph Kushner, presented a $50,000 check from "Friends in the Trump Administration" to "Congressional Sports for Charity" at the game.

The game raised about $500,000 for charity last year, according to spokeswoman Meredith Raimondi.

Pushing that message of unity were the House leaders Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who told CNN's Jake Tapper on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" that despite party affiliation they were both on "Team Scalise."

Former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre presented the game ball to Capitol Police special agent David Bailey, who came out on the field on crutches after being injured in Wednesday's shooting, to throw out the first pitch to huge applause.

President Donald Trump sent a video message to the game, highlighting Scalise who remains in critical condition on Thursday after several surgeries.

"By playing tonight, you are showing the world that we will not be intimidated by threats, acts of violence, or assaults on our democracy," Trump said. "The game will go on."

The Washington Nationals released additional seating in at the stadium to accommodate the demand.

Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who was at Wednesday's practice and gave medical help after the shooting, said it would have "been awful" if the game had been canceled, and said Scalise would want it to go on.

"I hope he's in good enough shape to watch, because he'll certainly feel good about what he sees," Flake said. "I was there at the hospital last night, and I hope he's doing better today. It's a long road for him."

"I'll miss the banter with him back and forth, but I'm sure there's some substitutes over there I can go pick a fight with," Richmond told reporters. "It'll be a different game without him there."

But Flake said the final score wasn't likely to matter this year.

"As far as winning and losing, I think that's far from anybody's mind right now," he said.

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Democrats win annual baseball game with special meaning - CNN

As Democrats seek to win the hotly contested House race in this longtime GOP stronghold, one of their toughest and most urgent challenges has become energizing black voters who have gone lukewarm on the party nationally.

Even in a race where Democrats have more money to spend than in any House race in history, they are struggling to get black voters in this rapidly diversifying district to turn out in the numbers they did when President Obama was on the ballot.

Their candidate, Jon Ossoff, fell just shy of winning the race outright during a special election in April, when the districts voters exhibited enthusiasm for a Democrat not seen in decades.

Flat turnout among African Americans ultimately played big in pushing Ossoff into a runoff next week for the seat vacated by Trumps Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Now the Ossoff campaign, the Democratic Party and other groups are scrambling to engage with black voters, who make up 13% of the districts electorate. The effort is being watched nationally as Democrats navigate how to reconnect with skeptical African American voters in Georgia and nationally.

African American voters are really frustrated with the party, said Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher, who worked on Obamas campaigns and recently conducted a survey of African American voter attitudes for the Congressional Black Caucus. A majority of African Americans nationally thinks the party takes them for granted. And a majority thinks the party doesnt even try to win their votes.

David Goldman / Associated Press

Karen Handel, the Republican candidate for the 6th Congressional District, speaks at a campaign event.

Karen Handel, the Republican candidate for the 6th Congressional District, speaks at a campaign event. (David Goldman / Associated Press)

Democrats see big opportunity in this congressional district that has long favored establishment Republicans but which Trump barely won. Yet the demographics here and in similar potential swing districts throughout the sunbelt make politicking complicated. Much of Ossoffs messaging is targeted at white suburban women, with Ossoff limiting his use of the type of identity politics Democrats have long relied on to connect with minority voters.

But strategists like Belcher say the message is not the problem at a time African Americans are just as concerned about the core issues of healthcare and economic insecurity as other voters; its that Democrats need to do more to bring the message to them.

The Democratic Party is trying to get these voters on the cheap, and it is not going to work, Belcher said. These voters need to be persuaded.

The runoff in which Ossoff faces former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, a Republican, has become a laboratory for how that persuasion could take shape. An abundance of cash is flooding into the district from progressive donors eager to snatch a seat held by Price and, before him, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. A sizable chunk is getting used to connect face-to-face often multiple times with every possible black resident who might vote Democrat.

This is going to be a learning opportunity of what tactics are going to be the best going forward, said Andra Gillespie, a professor of political science at Emory University in Atlanta. Both parties are going to see not just what types messages work, but what contacting strategies are optimal and scalable for the 2018 midterms.

Gillespie said the endorsement of Ossoff by civil rights icon John Lewis, a congressman from Atlanta, and the saturation of television and radio airwaves with advertisements targeting black voters including ads featuring Lewis go only so far in driving up the black vote.

Youve got to do the hard work of going out and asking them to vote, she said. That work was easier when Obama was on the ballot, which in itself lured people to the polls, Gillespie said.

The Democratic National Committee is bankrolling an effort by the state party to knock on the doors of minority voters who did not vote in April. It has 10 operatives hitting the pavement every day. For many of these voters, this is the first time they have had a conversation with an organizer, said Chrystian Wood, the director of organizing and outreach for the state party.

Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times

Marietta resident Charmetria Johnson talks outside her home with Donald Jumper, a political organizer with the congressional campaign of Democrat Jon Ossoff.

Marietta resident Charmetria Johnson talks outside her home with Donald Jumper, a political organizer with the congressional campaign of Democrat Jon Ossoff. (Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times)

The Ossoff campaign hired more of its own organizers to reach out to black voters, including Donald Jumper, a political operative in Atlanta who says he can relate to frustrations with the party expressed by fellow African Americans.

I understand some of how they are feeling, Jumper said, while slogging through a hilly residential neighborhood in the intense heat, knocking on doors. He aims for 100 doors a day. People need to be talked to by someone they can identify with. I try to communicate with them that nothing will happen if they are not voting at all.

Often, he gets an earful.

African Americans are passionate, but if you dont engage us, you are going to lose us, said Charmetria Johnson, 44, a salon owner from Marietta approached by Jumper on his canvassing rounds.

Several miles away in the community of Doraville, a separate group of canvassers with a nonprofit called the New Georgia Project was also working to drive up minority turnout in the district. The group is aiming to create supervoters people who wont just cast a ballot next week and be done with it but who stay engaged. It follows up with texts and emails on the issues and elections most likely to interest each individual. It holds boot camps on political engagement. This week, canvassers were giving out Uber coupons voters could use to get a free ride to the polls.

A lot of people we talk to did not even know there was an election, said Roderick Smith, one of the canvassers. When he approaches voters, they might talk about mistreatment by the police or other civil rights concerns, which are not a central focus of the congressional campaign. But they frequently will talk about healthcare, which is.

Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times

New Georgia Project staffer Roderick Smith knocks on doors in Doraville, one of many communities in Georgia's 6th Congressional District where the group is working to register minority voters before the June 20 runoff.

New Georgia Project staffer Roderick Smith knocks on doors in Doraville, one of many communities in Georgia's 6th Congressional District where the group is working to register minority voters before the June 20 runoff. (Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times)

The issue came up over and over again during an afternoon of canvassing with New Georgia and the campaign. "I dont want to have to go back to work for healthcare, said Phyllis Levert, a 62-year-old retired school administrator. What we are trying to do is survive and just get the basics.

New Georgia executive director Nse Ufot said the Ossoff campaign could have driven many more African Americans to the polls in April had it connected with them on his vow to protect Obamacare, an issue central to the campaign and the lives of black voters in the district.

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The black vote is key in Georgia's House race but can Democrats energize it? - Los Angeles Times

New York Times

Bernie Sanders's Advice for Democrats New York Times Since the Reagan years, Republicans have owned the ideological playing field, and Democrats have been perpetually on the defensive as a tax and spend, anti-job, pro-globalization, gun-hating, tree-hugging, minority-favoring, politically correct, anti ... and more »

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Bernie Sanders's Advice for Democrats - New York Times

WASHINGTON Democrats and activists opposed to GOP health care legislation have unleashed a full-scale effort to stop the plan but are finding it difficult to get anyone to pay attention.

Despite the stakes, critics say Republican efforts to hide the legislative process and a relentless tide of major news elsewhere have made it harder to draw attention to the issue.

If youre a voter sitting at home looking at your newspapers front page, its possible to have no idea the 'Trumpcare' train is barreling down the tracks at you, Ben Wikler, Washington director of MoveOn, told NBC News in an interview.

If all goes according to the GOP plan, Republicans in Congress will send sweeping healthcare legislation that could affect coverage, cost and treatment for tens of millions of Americans to President Donald Trumps desk before August. The House has already passed a bill and the Senate hopes to hold a vote on its own version as early as this month.

Its the home stretch for arguably the most important legislation in Congress since the Affordable Care Act.

This is not a drill, this is a red alert, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a floor speech this week. In a very short time, maybe only two weeks, the Republican majority may try to jam through a health care bill that no one in America has seen.

MoveOn and a variety of other grassroots groups are warning members that a bill is imminent and sounding the alarm with events, petitions and phone calls to senators. Democrats have been giving floor speeches, holding town halls, and tweeting all week about the expected legislation. But some are expressing frustration that their message is getting lost in the noise.

Think of every Trump tweet as an attempt to get the media to not cover the destruction of the Affordable Care Act, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) told reporters at a press conference highlighting the House bills impact on opioid treatment on Thursday. Thats whats going on.

For weeks, news coverage has been dominated by the ongoing scandal surrounding the White Houses firing of FBI director James Comey, including Comeys own testimony last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday, and Trumps regular commentary on Twitter.

When people ask me a question about Russia, I say, Im happy to talk to you about it, but youre going to have to listen to me talk about the health care challenge ahead, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted during Tuesdays hearing with the attorney general that followers should focus 10% of your attention/outrage on Sessions testimony, 90% on the secret health care bill.

He told NBC News later that day that he expected it to be the last week that youll hear Democrats focusing on anything other than health care.

On Wednesday, Congress was diverted by a horrifying attack on their own members at a baseball practice in Virginia that critically wounded House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) The shooting halted many legislative activities and prompted a brief moment of bipartisan reflection from lawmakers, but the healthcare bill is moving on regardless.

It looks like were still on track to have a vote before we leave [for July 4 recess], Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

Democrats believe their case is strong if they can get it out.

The House bill would insure 23 million fewer people over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, while dramatically increasing premiums and out-of-pocket costs for older and low-income Americans. It would reduce Medicaid spending by over $800 billion and use the savings to help finance large tax cuts for wealthy Americans and medical industries, a shift that could squeeze benefits for low-income families, seniors in nursing homes, and children with disabilities. Even President Trump reportedly called the bill mean in a meeting with senators this week.

But thats the House bill. The Senate bill is a moving target.

Even as Senate Republicans move toward a vote, almost nobody knows whats in the bill. In a major break from normal procedure, Republicans are working out the details with a small working group, away from the normal spotlight of bipartisan committee hearings. Even some Republican senators have complained that they and the public have been left in the dark.

"If you get a copy of it, will you send me a copy?" Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told NBC News on Thursday.

The closed-door process means there are few developments that generate news stories, like public hearings with industry leaders and affected constituents, or new policy proposals for experts to evaluate. Instead, the opaque process itself is the main story.

Theres a real danger here that this kind of legislating is going to become the new normal, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters on Thursday, saying that Republicans were using the ambiguity around the bill to deflect scrutiny of its likely impact.

The House used similar methods to pass its health bill last month, releasing a final version within 24 hours of a vote and several weeks before the Congressional Budget Office could estimate its effects and cost.

Democrats and allied groups, fearing a repeat, have tried to draw attention to the secretive process, hoping they can pressure GOP leaders into being more forthcoming and build a backlash against the closed-door methods.

The first message were asking [activists] to say to their senators is Show me the bill, Leslie Dach, campaign director of the Protect Our Care coalition, told NBC News. Its just unconscionable that the Senate would vote on a bill thats going to affect peoples lives this way and one-sixth of the economy and purposefully refuse to let anyone see it.

Democrats say theyre confident theyll be able to draw more attention to the bill in the coming days.

I think this issue is going to resume to front page status, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told NBC News.

He added that the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller gave them more room to discuss health care, since members were confident his investigation would be independent and thorough. As part of that effort, Kaine introduced a bill this week to help stabilize Obamacare exchanges, which are struggling in some states due to a combination of existing problems and mixed signals from the White House and Congress on payments owed to companies to cover costs for low-income customers.

Some grassroots activists have urged Democrats to take a more aggressive approach to disrupt normal Senate business in response to the GOPs stealthy tactics. One online petition on CREDO Action calls on Democrats to use every legislative tool at your disposal to block and resist Trumpcare.

Independent polling has consistently found the House bill is deeply unpopular, suggesting some of their message is breaking through despite the slew of news competing for Americans attention. A Quinnipiac survey this month found respondents disapproved of the House bill by a massive 62-17 margin.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W Va.) told NBC News that the issue was by far the dominant concern expressed by his constituents in phone calls and town halls even as the medias eye wandered elsewhere.

I dont have to draw attention it, he said. They come out in droves, theyre so hungry to talk about it.

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Health Care: Democrats Can't Hit What They Can't See - NBCNews.com