Civitas Poll: Conservatism still reigns in N.C.

Feb. 13, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jim Tynen (919) 834-2099
James.Tynen@NCCivitas.org

Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolina voters lined up by a 2.5-to-1 margin behind conservative values in a recent poll of political attitudes throughout the state.

Asked their opinion of key political terms, 59 percent said they have a favorable opinion of conservatism, and 58 percent held a favorable opinion of capitalism.

Meanwhile, only 33 percent said they had a favorable opinion of liberalism, while 48 percent expressed an unfavorable opinion. In a key election demographic, only 30 percent of independents had a favorable opinion of liberalism, while 52 percent viewed it unfavorably.

“This poll shows that conservatism remains the bedrock of North Carolinians’ political beliefs,” said Civitas Institute President Francis De Luca. “You’ll hear a lot of discussion between now and November about what voters are thinking. But in North Carolina, conservative views remain the essence of what people believe in.”

The Civitas Poll is the only regular live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina.  For more information on Civitas polling see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.

Full Text of Questions:

“Now I am going to read you a list of terms used in politics. After I read each term, please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of it. If you have never heard of the term, just tell me and we’ll go on to the next one.”

Conservatism:
Total Favorable – 59%
Total Unfavorable – 24%
Very Favorable – 31%
Somewhat Favorable – 28%
Somewhat Unfavorable – 11%
Very Unfavorable – 13%
Heard Of, No Opinion/Never Heard Of  – 17%

Capitalism:
Total Favorable – 58%
Total Unfavorable – 23%
Very Favorable – 34%
Somewhat Favorable – 24%
Somewhat Unfavorable – 11%
Very Unfavorable – 12%
Heard Of, No Opinion/Never Heard Of – 19%

Liberalism:
Total Favorable – 33%
Total Unfavorable – 48%
Very Favorable – 12%
Somewhat Favorable – 21%
Somewhat Unfavorable – 17%
Very Unfavorable – 31%
Heard Of, No Opinion/Never Heard Of – 19%

For the full results and crosstabs, click here.

This poll of 600 likely 2012 general election voters in North Carolina was conducted Jan. 9-11, 2012 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ.  All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of likely 2012 general election voters in North Carolina.  For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past three general elections (2006, 2008, 2010) or be newly registered to vote since November 2, 2010.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in at least one of the past three general elections or is newly registered since November 2, 2010.

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