New Poll Shows Strong Support for Steel Tariffs 10/30/2003
From: Sarah Gegenheimer, 202-295-0124 WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 -- Half-way through the President's three-year steel program, a new poll of registered voters in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia shows overwhelming support for the President's decision to place temporary tariffs on imported steel. The study, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, also shows that voters in these four states want the tariffs to stay in place. "This poll shows that voters in these four states believe overwhelmingly that President Bush did the right thing by putting the steel tariffs in place," said Bill McInturff, partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies. "These findings also make clear that the President is on very solid ground in continuing his support for steel tariffs." Overall, 74 percent of registered voters in these four states favor the President's decision to put the tariffs in place. Specifically, 69 percent of voters in Michigan, 77 percent of voters in Pennsylvania, 72 percent in Ohio, and 77 percent of voters in West Virginia support the President's action. This issue unites voters across party lines, with 76 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of Independents and 73 percent of Democrats supporting the President's decision. Voters in all four states want the tariffs to continue. Nearly seven in ten voters (69 percent) across the four states support keeping the tariffs in place. This includes 69 percent of the voters in Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia and 70 percent of the voters in Pennsylvania. The steel tariff issue has a significant impact on the people and industries in these four states. Fourteen percent of voters in these states are in steel households, either working directly in the steel industry or in a steel-dependent business. This includes 21 percent of households in Michigan, 16 percent in Ohio, 10 percent in West Virginia and 9 percent in Pennsylvania. The study was conducted by telephone with a representative sample of 1,000 interviews, equally stratified across the four states. The survey was conducted Oct. 14-16 and 17-18. Public Opinion Strategies is a national political and public affairs survey research firm. Since its founding in 1991, the firm has completed more than 2.5 million interviews with voters and consumers in all fifty states and over a dozen foreign countries, and conducted more than 1,500 focus groups. Public Opinion Strategies currently represents twelve U.S. Senators, ten governors, and over 50 Members of Congress. ------ Additional information about the President's steel program is available at http://www.steel201.org. |