Poll: Half of Americans fear a new cold war with Russia

The East-West war of words grows ever louder following Russia’s annexation of the Ukranian region of Crimea. We learn what Americans think of it with Frank Newport, editor in chief at the Gallup Poll.

Listen to the interview above. Up this week:

• Among Americans, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s image is down to 9 percent favorable — not quite as bad as Osama bin Laden. Russia’s image as a whole has become more negative, too. The majority of Americans now see the country as either unfriendly or as an enemy, significantly more negative than six months ago.

• Half of Americans say that the Uniterd States and Russia are heading back to a cold war. This is twice as many people as in the early 1990s after the Soviet Union broke up. Importantly, Republicans are significantly more likely to fear a pending cold war than Democrats. Young people are blasé, while older Americans are worried.

• Americans are paying more attention to the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 than to the Ukraine/Crimea/Russian situation, despite its dominance in the news.

• Getting a lot of attention this week: the nation’s highest-rated and lowest-rated Metropolitan areas in terms of well-being. Philadelphia is right about average, tied with New York City.

• There has been a significant age realignment with party identification since the middle of the last decade. Seniors have shifted to the Republican side, young people to the Democratic side.

• This is the last week for enrollment in the Affordable Care Act until the next open enrollment cycle in November.