Posted on 05/15/2007 7:33:16 AM PDT by Valin
The Continued Politics Of Abortion - Interesting Information On The Eve Of A Republican Presidential Candidates Debate
On the eve of the next Republican presidential candidates debate, a survey about the politics of abortion released yesterday provides some interesting information, even though unfortunately the specific data points are only being released piecemeal. The survey - conducted by the Republican polling firm Ayres, McHenry & Associates, Inc. out of Alexandria, Virginia for both the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the Judicial Confirmation Network - polled 1,000 registered voters across the country in late April and early May and has a +/-3.1% margin of error.
Republican voters initially favor overturning Roe v. Wade by 60 to 32 percent. When the substance of the Roe decision is described in some detail prior to asking the question, Republican voters favor overturning Roe v. Wade by 67 to 29 percent. Among Democrats the swing in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade is 26 points after the Roe decision is described in some detail. The survey also breaks down abortion by Blue states (those voting for John Kerry in 2004) and Red states (those voting for George W. Bush in 2004), and by different circumstances.
“Among voters in all states, initial opposition to overturning Roe stood at 55 to 34 percent; after discussing the conditions that are currently legal, the margin against overturning Roe dropped to 48 to 43 percent. Among red state voters, initial opposition was 50 to 39 percent. After discussing currently legal conditions, voters in red states switched to wanting Roe overturned by 47 to 44 percent. Voters in blue states initially did not want Roe overturned by a 61 to 27 percent margin; after the discussion opposition in blue states remained at 53 to 39 percent.”
While abortion has not been dispositive in recent general presidential elections given that the Republican candidates were pro-life and the Democrat candidates were pro-choice, thus aligning with their base voters, it arguably is going to be an important part of the GOP presidential primary in 2008 and perhaps in tonight’s debate, especially given that Mayor Giuliani as a frontrunner has staked out a pro-choice position and is now claiming that he has no position on when life begins.
by Republius
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To the average voter, I don’t see abortion as a big of deal as say the price of gas, Iraq War, etc...
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