October 2009 Poll Results

November 10, 2009 by Brian Balfour Leave a Comment

Overall, would you say that things in the North Carolina are headed in the right direction, or would you say they are headed off on the wrong track?
Right Direction	30%
Wrong Track	57%
Not Sure	13%

If the election for north carolina state legislature were held today, for whom would you be more likely to vote – a Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate?
Republican	41%
Democratic	39%
Not Sure	20%

What is the most important issue facing the north carolina today

Unemployment/Jobs 39%

Economy 16%

Healthcare 11%

Education 7%

Taxes/Budget/Spending 14%

Other 8%

Not Sure 5%

Now, I am going to read you a list of names. Will you please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each person? If you have no opinion or have never heard of the person, just say so. "Barack Obama"
Very Favorable	37%
Somewhat Favorable	12%
Somewhat Unfavorable	10%
Very Unfavorable	37%
Not Sure	4%

"Bev Perdue"

Very Favorable 15%

Somewhat Favorable 22%

Somewhat Unfavorable 18%

Very Unfavorable 32%

Not Sure 13%
"Mike Easley"

Very Favorable 12%

Somewhat Favorable 17%

Somewhat Unfavorable 12%

Very Unfavorable 36%

Not Sure 23%

Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the job that Barack Obama is doing as president?
Strongly Approve	33%
Somewhat Approve	17%
Somewhat Disapprove	11%
Strongly Disapprove	37%
Not Sure	2%

Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the job that bev perdue is doing as governor?
Strongly Approve	12%
Somewhat Approve	31%
Somewhat Disapprove	17%
Strongly Disapprove	32%
Not Sure	8%

Would you say bev perdue is a liberal, moderate or conservative in her political beliefs?

Liberal 42%

Moderate 31%

Conservative 9%

Not Sure 18%

In general, are you most concerned about economic issues, like taxes, the budget, the economy and jobs; social issues like education, social security, the environment and health care; world affairs and national security issues such as the war in iraq, terrorism, illegal immigration and border security, or moral issues like abortion, school prayer, and gay marriage?
Economic Issues	56%
Social Issues	21%
Moral Issues	13%
World Affairs/National Security	7%
Not Sure	3%

Do you approve or disapprove of the health care plan being proposed by Barack Obama and Congress?
Strongly Approve	23%
Somewhat Approve	17%
Somewhat Disapprove	6%
Strongly Disapprove	44%
Not Sure	10%

From the following list, which best describes your level of support for President Barack Obama’s agenda for our country?
Support 100%	19%
Support Most of It	22%
Support More Than Oppose	9%
Oppose More Than Support	15%
Oppose Most of It	14%
Oppose 100%	19%
Not Sure	2%

From the following list, which best describes your level of support for governor bev perdue’s agenda for north carolina?
Support 100%	7%
Support Most of It	18%
Support More Than Oppose	17%
Oppose More Than Support	19%
Oppose Most of It	17%
Oppose 100%	11%
Not Sure	11%

if the election were held today, which one of the following best describes how you are likely to vote in the election for united states senate between Richard Burr, the Republican candidate, and Elaine Marshall, the Democratic candidate?
Definitely Burr	33%
Probably Burr	8%
Lean Burr	3%
Definitely Marshall	18%
Probably Marshall	9%
Lean Marshall	6%
Not Sure	23%

Which party do you think can best handle each of the following issues: "Creating jobs and improving the economy"
Democrats	38%
Republicans	36%
Both	6%
Neither	13%
Not Sure	7%

Which party do you think can best handle each of the following issues: "Improving public education"
Democrats	44%
Republicans	33%
Both	4%
Neither	10%
Not Sure	9%

Which party do you think can best handle each of the following issues: "Fighting corruption and restoring honesty and integrity to North Carolina state government"
Democrats	29%
Republicans	32%
Both	8%
Neither	22%
Not Sure	9%

Which party do you think can best handle each of the following issues: "Controlling spending and holding the line on taxes"
Democrats	27%
Republicans	43%
Both	5%
Neither	17%
Not Sure	8%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Governor Bev Perdue spending $80,000 to go on a trade mission to Japan and China"
Strongly Approve	9%
Somewhat Approve	12%
Somewhat Disapprove	14%
Strongly Disapprove	58%
Not Sure	7%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Allowing illegal immigrants to enroll in North Carolina community colleges"
Strongly Approve	11%
Somewhat Approve	14%
Somewhat Disapprove	12%
Strongly Disapprove	58%
Not Sure	5%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Granting millions of dollars in tax breaks to companies, like Dell, to locate in North Carolina"
Strongly Approve	19%
Somewhat Approve	26%
Somewhat Disapprove	14%
Strongly Disapprove	30%
Not Sure	11%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Changing sex education laws in North Carolina to allow 5th graders to be taught that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle"
Strongly Approve	11%
Somewhat Approve	9%
Somewhat Disapprove	10%
Strongly Disapprove	65%
Not Sure	5%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Giving tax credits to parents of special needs children to allow them to send their kids to private schools"
Strongly Approve	41%
Somewhat Approve	28%
Somewhat Disapprove	7%
Strongly Disapprove	15%
Not Sure	9%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Allowing people who have been convicted of drunk driving four times to get their driver’s license back"
Strongly Approve	3%
Somewhat Approve	4%
Somewhat Disapprove	9%
Strongly Disapprove	80%
Not Sure	4%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Increasing the gas tax by 2 cents per gallon"
Strongly Approve	6%
Somewhat Approve	11%
Somewhat Disapprove	11%
Strongly Disapprove	67%
Not Sure	5%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "allowing convicted murderers to challenge a death sentence by claiming race was a factor in sentencing"
Strongly Approve	9%
Somewhat Approve	11%
Somewhat Disapprove	9%
Strongly Disapprove	62%
Not Sure	9%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Requiring state employees who smoke or who are overweight to pay more for their health insurance"
Strongly Approve	16%
Somewhat Approve	17%
Somewhat Disapprove	13%
Strongly Disapprove	44%
Not Sure	10%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Cutting state employee pay by one-half of a percent in order to help close a state budget deficit"
Strongly Approve	21%
Somewhat Approve	16%
Somewhat Disapprove	13%
Strongly Disapprove	45%
Not Sure	4%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Raising the state sales tax by a one cent and raising taxes by $1.1 billion dollars"
Strongly Approve	12%
Somewhat Approve	10%
Somewhat Disapprove	11%
Strongly Disapprove	63%
Not Sure	4%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Cutting teacher pay by one-half of a percent in order to help close a state budget deficit"
Strongly Approve	7%
Somewhat Approve	8%
Somewhat Disapprove	13%
Strongly Disapprove	66%
Not Sure	6%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Raising the state sales tax by a one cent and raising taxes by $992 million dollars"
Strongly Approve	8%
Somewhat Approve	12%
Somewhat Disapprove	9%
Strongly Disapprove	63%
Not Sure	8%

Would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each of the following? "Allowing illegal immigrants to enroll in North Carolina community colleges"
Strongly Approve	11%
Somewhat Approve	14%
Somewhat Disapprove	12%
Strongly Disapprove	58%
Not Sure	5%

Do you support or oppose a plan by the general assembly that would reform the state’s tax code by lowering the state’s sales and income taxes but would begin charging sales tax on services like auto repair, home repair and warranties?
Strongly Support	12%
Somewhat Support	16%
Somewhat Oppose	14%
Strongly Oppose	45%
Not Sure	13%

Do you support or oppose the death penalty for convicted murderers?

Strongly Support 50%

Somewhat Support 18%

Somewhat Oppose 7%

Strongly Oppose 17%

Not Sure 8%

How closely have you been following the news stories regarding the scandals of former Governor Mike Easley and his wife’s job at North Carolina State University?
Very Closely	21%
Somewhat Closely	46%
Not Closely at All	29%
Not Sure	4%

Given your knowledge of the scandals involving former Gov. Mike Easley, would you say that it will make you more likely or less likely to vote for a Democratic candidate in North Carolina? if it would not make a difference, just say so.
Much More Likely	3%
Somewhat More Likely	2%
Somewhat Less Likely	3%
Much Less likely	16%
No Difference	70%
Not Sure	6%

Regarding the governments role in the economy, which of the following opinions comes closest to your own personal opinion? 1. (some/other) people think the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. 2. (other/some) people think that government should be more involved in solving our country’s problems.
Do Too Many Things	61%
More Involved	31%
Not Sure	8%

When it comes to improving education, which of the following could the governor and the state legislature do that would help the most?
Reduce Class Size	22%
Increase Teacher Pay	20%
Classroom Discipline	17%
Competency Exams	14%
Give Parents More Choices	12%
Increase Days in School Year	4%
Raise Drop Out Age to 18	4%
Not Sure	7%

If legislators must make education cuts would you prefer teacher layoffs or increased class sizes?
Teacher Layoffs	8%
Class Size Increases	67%
Not Sure	25%

All things being equal, between the following two candidates for the state legislature, for whom are you more likely to vote? 1. a candidate who voted to raise taxes to protect education funding, or, 2. a candidate who voted to cut education funding to avoid raising taxes
Raise Taxes	59%
Cut Education Funding	28%
Not Sure	13%

When you think about state spending which bothers you more earmarks, pork-barrel spending, or wasteful spending?
Wasteful Spending	67%
Pork-Barrel Projects	19%
Earmarks	9%
Not Sure	5%

Which of the following examples of state spending do you think is most wasteful? $7 million for a cooking school in Charlotte $25 million for a fishing pier in the Outer Banks $3 million dollars for a solar-powered visitor’s center $40,000 for 1,000 crab-pots $2.1 million to dig up an old pirate ship
Pirate Ship	35%
Fishing Pier	24%
Crab-pots	11%
Cooking School	9%
Visitor’s Center	7%
Not Sure	14%

when you think about the new state budget, what part bothers you most? 1. the state increasing taxes by $1 billion including increases in the income tax, sales tax and taxes on small businesses, 2. the cutting education funding by $255 million dollars including, laying off over 6000 teachers and raising class sizes, or, 3. wasteful spending on pork-barrel projects like a $25 million dollar fishing pier.
Pork-barrel projects	50%
Cut education funding	29%
Increasing taxes	17%
Not Sure	4%

which of the following best describes the effect of the economy on your personal or family’s finances?
Getting Better	9%
About the Same	42%
Getting Worse	47%
Not Sure	2%

When it comes to you and your family’s own personal finances, which of the following would help you and your family the most?
Create jobs/economy	24%
Lower state taxes	17%
Lower property taxes	16%
Increase Salaries	15%
Health Care Affordable	12%
Save For Retirement	5%
College Affordable	4%
Public Works Projects	4%
Don’t Know	3%

If you had to choose only one, which of the following tax increases would have the greatest negative financial impact on you and your family’s financial well-being? An increase in the…
Income Tax	45%
Gas tax	30%
Sales tax	20%
Not Sure	5%

In your opinion, how long will it take for the economy to improve and for the recession to end?
Less Than 6 Months	3%
6 Months to 1 Year	15%
a year to 2 years	28%
Over 2 Years	50%
Not Sure	4%

When thinking about the economy, which of the following do you think is the best indicator to determine if things are improving?
Lower unemployment	63%
Stock market rising	10%
Your taxes going down	8%
Your income going up	6%
Home prices going up	5%
Low Inflation	4%
Not Sure	4%

Now, I am going to read you facts about the recently passed state budget. For each of the following facts regarding the recently passed state budget, would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each? "Raising the state corporate income tax on small businesses by 3 percent"
Strongly Approve	9%
Somewhat Approve	10%
Somewhat Disapprove	21%
Strongly Disapprove	54%
Not Sure	7%

Now, I am going to read you facts about the recently passed state budget. For each of the following facts regarding the recently passed state budget, would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each? "Raising the state tax on beer and wine sales and raising the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 25 cents"
Strongly Approve	44%
Somewhat Approve	21%
Somewhat Disapprove	8%
Strongly Disapprove	21%
Not Sure	6%

For each of the following facts regarding the recently passed state budget, would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each? "The recently passed budget will layoff between 4,000 and 6,000 teachers"
Strongly Approve	5%
Somewhat Approve	4%
Somewhat Disapprove	15%
Strongly Disapprove	70%
Not Sure	6%

For each of the following facts regarding the recently passed state budget, would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each? "The recently passed budget will increase the income tax by 2% on everyone making more than $60,000 dollars a year and by 3% on individuals making more than $100,000 a year"
Strongly Approve	22%
Somewhat Approve	18%
Somewhat Disapprove	12%
Strongly Disapprove	49%
Not Sure	9%

For each of the following facts regarding the recently passed state budget, would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each? "The recently passed budget closes 7 prisons"
Strongly Approve	7%
Somewhat Approve	8%
Somewhat Disapprove	15%
Strongly Disapprove	56%
Not Sure	14%

Now, I am going to read you facts about the recently passed state budget. For each of the following facts regarding the recently passed state budget, would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each? "The recently passed budget cuts education spending in the classroom by over $500 million dollars"
Strongly Approve	6%
Somewhat Approve	6%
Somewhat Disapprove	16%
Strongly Disapprove	64%
Not Sure	8%

Now, I am going to read you facts about the recently passed state budget. For each of the following facts regarding the recently passed state budget, would you please tell me if you approve or disapprove of each? "Raising the state tax on beer and wine sales and raising the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 25 cents"
Strongly Approve	44%
Somewhat Approve	21%
Somewhat Disapprove	8%
Strongly Disapprove	21%
Not Sure	6%

Now, regarding the recently passed state budget, which of the following two opinions comes closest to your own personal opinion? 1. (some/other) people say the Democrats in the state legislature and the governor passed a responsible state budget that cut excess spending and wasteful programs. they say they made difficult … 2. (other/some) people say the Democrats in the state legislature and the governor passed an irresponsible budget that cut millions of dollars from essential services, like education and …
Responsible	26%
Irresponsible	57%
Not Sure	17%

Do you or does anyone in your household currently own a hand gun, rifle, shotgun or other firearm?

Yes 49%

No 42%

Not Sure 9%
On the issue of abortion, would you consider yourself to be pro-life or pro-choice?

Pro-life 49%

Pro-choice 44%

Not Sure 7%
Do you consider yourself to be part of the Evangelical Christian Conservative movement also known as the Religious Right?

yes 35%

no 58%

Not Sure 7%

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Civitas Institute