So how is the lobbying scandal that’s obsessing the nation’s capital playing in Peoria? It’s barely on the radar screen.

In early January, the Pew Research Center updated its news interest index. Washington, D.C., stories weren’t generating as much interest as other stories were. Forty-seven percent said they were following very closely news stories about the deaths of miners in West Virginia, and 40 percent said so about news from Iraq.

But among Washington-based news stories, the highest attention being paid was the 32 percent who were following the wiretaps authorized by President Bush. Just 18 percent were following stories about former lobbyist Jack Abramoff bribing Members of Congress, and 14 percent said they were tracking the Judge Samuel Alito Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Digging further on the Congressional ethics scandal, 81 percent of respondents to the poll said recent reports of lobbyists bribing Members were examples of common behavior in Congress. Just 11 percent said they were isolated incidents. Perhaps the belief that this kind of behavior is common may explain why 34 percent in the news interest index question said they weren’t following the stories about Abramoff at all.

Familiar Patterns on Immigration In polls, Americans are usually more positive about immigrants who came in the past than they are about those who have arrived recently.

In a December NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 57 percent said immigrants who came here 100 years ago were “hard-working people who respected our democratic principles, were involved in the community and worked to learn English.” Twenty-six percent said this described some or very few of them.

But for immigrants who have come here over the past 10 years, those responses were 29 percent and 41 percent, respectively.

In addition, just 15 percent said that immigrants who had moved to their community in recent years were making things better, while 27 percent said they were making things worse. Forty-seven percent said they were not making much difference either way.

Whom to Trust on Iraq Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed in mid-December by Fox News/Opinion Dynamics said they trusted the Republicans more on Iraq, while 35 percent said they trusted the Democrats more. By the time of an early January CBS News poll, 36 percent said the Republicans would do a better job handling Iraq, compared to 39 percent who said the Democrats would do better.

In a Dec. 2-6 CBS News/New York Times poll, 12 percent told interviewers that a candidate’s position on the Iraq war would be the most important issue to them in casting their vote in 2006, while 71 percent said it would be important but that this also was true of other issues, and 15 percent said it wouldn’t influence their vote.

In another question, 21 percent said if a Representative called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops, it would make them more likely to vote for him or her, while 36 percent said it would make them less likely. Forty percent said that this would have little impact on their vote.

Afghan Attitudes An ABC News poll from Afghanistan--the first conducted by a news organization--explored a variety of subjects, including views of the United States, the Taliban, consumer comforts, the role of women and poppy production.

Interviews were conducted in October in person in the Dari and Pashto languages. Eighty-three percent of Afghanis had a positive view of the United States, and 87 percent felt the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban was a good thing. People were optimistic about their future and felt they were better off now that the Taliban government had been overthrown.

Eighty-three percent gave Hamad Karzai an excellent or good rating.

Ninety-five percent of Afghanis have a radio, 43 percent have a TV and 12 percent have a car.

Wal-Mart’s Standing Eighty-four percent of Americans shopped at a Wal-Mart in the previous year, including 42 percent who did so regularly, according to a survey done by the Pew Research Center in early December.

Among income groups, those with household incomes below $30,000 were the most likely to shop there regularly. Southerners were the strongest regional patrons, at 57 percent. Forty percent of union households and 42 percent of non-union households were regulars.

Eighty-one percent of those with a Wal-Mart nearby described it as a good place to shop, including 85 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of independents. When asked whether Wal-Mart has had a good or bad effect on the country, 71 percent of Republicans were positive, compared to 57 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of independents.

Do Not Call: A Government Success Three-quarters of those interviewed by Harris Interactive in December reported signing up for the federal government’s “do not call” registry. Eighteen percent said they have received no telemarketing calls since registering, while 61 percent said they’d received some but far less than before. Twelve percent said they’d received some but a little less than before.

Karlyn H. Bowman is a resident fellow at AEI.