David Stewart blames the deluge from social media, partisan blogs and 24-hour news sites for complicating things. At one time people would only see a news story about a violent group like the Islamic State, he said, but now they watch the militants' videos of beheadings online.
"People get a little overwhelmed by all the information about what's going on in the world," said Stewart, 40, a salesman at a home improvement store in Georgetown, Kentucky. The father of three said it takes time from an already busy life to go online and sort out "what's fluff, what's been engineered, and what's actually true and believable."
The issue that stumps Stewart most? President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. It can sound like a tragedy or a godsend, depending whether Republicans or Democrats are talking about it.
Nearly three-fourths of Americans find it difficult, according to the AP-GfK poll, and about 4 in 10 say it's "very hard" to understand.
One obvious reason: The law really is complex. Politicians even say so.
Republicans were condemning "Obamacare" as a regulatory morass even before it passed. When the federal website enrolling people crashed last year, Obama himself pointed to the enormous size of the undertaking. "It's complicated," he said. "It's hard."
Politicians do try to make issues sound simpler. They like to invoke your own family budget when talking about the national debt.
But in the AP-GfK poll, confidence in dealing with household problems didn't offer much help in understanding national matters. For example, most under age 30 said it's easy to protect your privacy and financial information online. But most young adults think it's hard to understand the National Security Agency's data collection programs. Americans over age 50 find both personal computer security and the NSA issue difficult.
The interest rates you pay? Wealthier people are more likely to find rates on personal loans easy to understand. But the poll shows no difference by income in comprehending the Fed's interest rate policy.
