The jury was out on the incoming House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Most people surveyed said they do not know enough yet to have an opinion about the California Democrat who will be the first woman in that post, according to the poll.
The survey results were announced as the 110th Congress is set to convene tomorrow at noon. Voters toppled Republican majorities in both the Senate and House last November, exasperated by investigations into the ethics of GOP lawmakers and unhappy with the war in Iraq.
Democrats will hold a 233-to-202 edge in the House and will control the Senate 51 to 49.
A boost to the $5.15-an-hour federal minimum wage would be the first since 1997. Democratic leaders have proposed raising it in stages to $7.25 an hour. President Bush has said he supports the idea, along with help for small businesses.
Fully 80 percent of survey respondents said they favor an increase, too.
Support was strongest among Democrats, 91 percent, while 65 percent of Republicans said they back the idea. Women, men without college degrees, and single women all are were especially likely to favor a minimum wage increase .
Nearly 7 of 10 adults, 69 percent, said they favor the government taking steps to make it easier for people to buy prescription drugs from other countries, where some medicines cost significantly less than in the United States .
Importing prescription drugs to the United States is illegal, but the Food and Drug Administration generally does not bar individuals from bringing in small amounts for personal use. At the same time, the government has estimated that buying drugs from other countries would do little to influence what they cost in the United States .
Some 56 percent of adults said they support easing restrictions on using federal money to pay for research on embryonic stem cells. Supporters say such research could lead to treatments for everything from Parkinson's disease to spinal cord injuries. Bush and other opponents say the embryos from which the cells are extracted are human lives that should not be destroyed in the name of science.
