2000 Delegate Issues Survey
July 2000
SECTION I: FEDERAL LEVEL ISSUES QUESTIONS
1.) Please indicate the importance of each issue, where 0 means not at all important and 5 means very important: (Number given is an average of all responses.)
REP DEM
4.3 4.6 Economic Growth
3.6 4.2 Job Security
4.0 2.9 Middle Class Tax Cuts
1.8 1.1 Term Limits
4.2 3.1 National Defense
3.2 4.6 Health Care Reform
2.7 4.1 Environment
3.8 3.6 Crime
2.4 2.3 Abortion
3.1 2.1 Reforming Legal System
2.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE a constitutional amendment to require a balanced Federal budget?
REP DEM
39% 17% Strongly Favor
41% 41% Somewhat Favor
7% 7% Somewhat Oppose
13% 34% Strongly Oppose
3.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE allowing individuals to establish tax-free savings accounts to help save money for first-time home purchases, college education and/or medical expenses:
REP DEM
54% 38% Strongly Favor
39% 38% Somewhat Favor
2% 7% Somewhat Oppose
5% 17% Strongly Oppose
4.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE lowering income taxes to stimulate economic growth?
REP DEM
56% 21% Strongly Favor
38% 29% Somewhat Favor
2% 18% Somewhat Oppose
4% 32% Strongly Oppose
5.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE lowering the cap on mortgage interest deductions for homeowners?
REP DEM
25% 14% Strongly Favor
39% 29% Somewhat Favor
25% 29% Somewhat Oppose
11% 29% Strongly Oppose
6.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE a flat tax plan eliminating ALL deductions?
REP DEM
23% 7% Strongly Favor
42% 18% Somewhat Favor
26% 32% Somewhat Oppose
9% 43% Strongly Oppose
7.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE a flat tax plan that retains limited mortgage interest and charitable donation deductions?
REP DEM
33% 18% Strongly Favor
56% 14% Somewhat Favor
11% 29% Somewhat Oppose
0% 39% Strongly Oppose
8.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE a national sales tax?
REP DEM
9% 4% Strongly Favor
15% 21% Somewhat Favor
24% 18% Somewhat Oppose
52% 57% Strongly Oppose
9.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE substantially overhauling, but retaining the current tax system?
REP DEM
21% 31% Strongly Favor
28% 45% Somewhat Favor
30% 14% Somewhat Oppose
21% 10% Strongly Oppose
10.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE fundamental tax reform?
REP DEM
56% 37% Strongly Favor
33% 44% Somewhat Favor
4% 15% Somewhat Oppose
7% 4% Strongly Oppose
11.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE increasing the Federal minimum wage requirement?
REP DEM
16% 70% Strongly Favor
22% 23% Somewhat Favor
38% 7% Somewhat Oppose
24% 0% Strongly Oppose
12.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE increasing salaries as an inducement for people to stay in the U.S. Military?
REP DEM
96% 86% Favor
4% 14% Oppose
13.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE U.S. Military involvement in multi-national peacekeeping forces?
REP DEM
46% 86% Favor
54% 14% Oppose
14.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE allowing gay and lesbian people serving in the U.S. Military?
REP DEM
37% 87% Favor
63% 13% Oppose
15.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE sending U.S. armed forces to defend Taiwan if it were invaded by the Peoples Republic of China?
REP DEM
53% 28% Favor
47% 72% Oppose
16.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE sending U.S. armed forces to defend Israel if it were invaded by another country?
REP DEM
61% 53% Favor
39% 47% Oppose
17.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that damage to the environment should be avoided no matter what it costs?
REP DEM
16% 71% Agree
84% 29% Disagree
18.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that environmental protection is an important goal that should be balanced against economic costs?
REP DEM
93% 80% Agree
7% 20% Disagree
19.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that environmental protection costs too much and leads to a loss of jobs?
REP DEM
23% 0% Agree
77% 100% Disagree
20.) Generally speaking, do you FAVOR or OPPOSE free trade policies?
REP DEM
40% 18% Strongly Favor
58% 54% Somewhat Favor
0% 11% Somewhat Oppose
2% 18% Strongly Oppose
21.) Are you in favor of continuing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)?
REP DEM
27% 17% Strongly Favor
51% 31% Somewhat Favor
16% 17% Somewhat Oppose
6% 34% Strongly Oppose
22.) Would you favor or oppose expansion of the NAFTA agreement to include the countries of South America?
REP DEM
16% 7% Strongly Favor
48% 31% Somewhat Favor
25% 24% Somewhat Oppose
11% 38% Strongly Oppose
23.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE the activities of the World Trade Organization?
REP DEM
2% 4% Strongly Favor
47% 39% Somewhat Favor
24% 39% Somewhat Oppose
27% 18% Strongly Oppose
24.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE placing limits on the terms of Member of Congress?
REP DEM
27% 10% Strongly Favor
24% 20% Somewhat Favor
18% 27% Somewhat Oppose
31% 43% Strongly Oppose
25.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE banning political action committee (PAC) contributions to election campaigns?
REP DEM
20% 17% Strongly Favor
7% 20% Somewhat Favor
33% 33% Somewhat Oppose
40% 30% Strongly Oppose
26.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE providing for taxpayer funding of Congressional elections?
REP DEM
4% 27% Strongly Favor
15% 37% Somewhat Favor
15% 17% Somewhat Oppose
65% 20% Strongly Oppose
27.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE banning so-called “soft money” given to political parties for use in “party building” activities?
REP DEM
20% 27% Strongly Favor
18% 33% Somewhat Favor
33% 7% Somewhat Oppose
28% 33% Strongly Oppose
28.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE prohibiting all corporate contributions to campaigns?
REP DEM
27% 59% Strongly Favor
20% 17% Somewhat Favor
33% 17% Somewhat Oppose
20% 7% Strongly Oppose
29.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE prohibiting campaign contributions from labor unions?
REP DEM
43% 17% Strongly Favor
22% 7% Somewhat Favor
33% 17% Somewhat Oppose
2% 59% Strongly Oppose
30.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that the Social Security system should be changed to allow individuals to personally select the investment vehicles for a portion of their FICA withholding?
REP DEM
93% 17% Agree
7% 83% Disagree
31.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that the Social Security system will be solvent enough to provide benefits to YOU during your retirement years?
REP DEM
63% 62% Agree
37% 38% Disagree
32.) To you AGREE or DISAGREE that the Social Security system will be solvent enough to provide benefits for your CHILDREN during their retirement years?
REP DEM
20% 54% Agree
80% 46% Disagree
33.) When it comes to helping people solve their problems, do you believe the Federal government is primarily an adversarial force, or a positive force?
REP DEM
74% 13% Adversarial Force
11% 67% Positive Force
15% 20% No Opinion
34.) Who do you think will be your party’s nominee for Vice President?
REPUBLICANS:
66% Tom Ridge
12% John Danforth
5% Elizabeth Dole
5% John McCain
2% John Kasic
2% Richard Lugar
2% Colin Powell
2% J.C. Watts
DEMOCRATS
23% Bill Bradley
15% John Bonier
15% Diane Feinstein
15% John Kerry
8% Evan Bayh
8% Tom Gephart
8% John Mitchell
8% Bill Richardson
SECTION II: STATE LEVEL ISSUE QUESTIONS
1.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE the property tax-based system currently utilized by school districts, local and county governments to fund government services?
REP DEM
22% 20% Favor
63% 70% Oppose
15% 10% No Opinion
2.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE replacing property/real estate taxes with a local tax on earned income?
REP DEM
50% 53% Favor
41% 37% Oppose
9% 10% No Opinion
3.) Would you FAVOR or OPPOSE replacing property/real estate taxes with a local sales tax?
REP DEM
39% 37% Favor
52% 50% Oppose
9% 13% No Opinion
4.) Would you FAVOR or OPPOSE allowing school districts, municipal and county government to enact a COMBINATION of property/real estate taxes, earned income taxes, and local sales taxes?
REP DEM
38% 68% Favor
53% 25% Oppose
9% 7% No Opinion
5.) Would you FAVOR or OPPOSE eliminating sales taxes and replacing the lost revenue with an increase in the personal income tax rate?
REP DEM
15% 43% Favor
76% 43% Oppose
9% 14% No Opinion
6.) Would you FAVOR or OPPOSE exempting the Internet from all forms of taxation, including sales taxes?
REP DEM
62% 40% Favor
24% 43% Oppose
14% 17% No Opinion
7.) Generally speaking, are you in favor of the concept of “school choice”?
REP DEM
72% 14% Yes
26% 86% No
8.) Do you feel Educational Opportunity Grants should be made available to students who wish to attend a PUBLIC SCHOOL in a district other than their district of residence?
REP DEM
48% 27% Yes
48% 73% No
4% 0% No Opinion
9.) Do you feel Educational Opportunity Grants should be made available to students who wish to attend a PAROCHIAL school?
REP DEM
61% 23% Yes
33% 77% No
6% 0% No Opinion
10.) Do you feel Educational Opportunity Grants should be made available to students who wish to attend a non-religions PRIVATE school?
REP DEM
63% 10% Yes
30% 87% No
7% 3% No Opinion
11.) Do you support the concept of CHARTER PUBLIC schools?
REP DEM
70% 28% Yes
22% 55% No
8% 17% No Opinion
12.) Should local school boards be allowed to contract with private companies to provide instructions, administrative and operational services to public schools?
REP DEM
70% 23% Yes
22% 60% No
8% 17% No Opinion
13.) Should local school boards be given the ability to hire and retain staff (including teachers) on the basis of performance?
REP DEM
67% 63% Yes
20% 33% No
13% 4% No Opinion
14.) Generally speaking, do you feel our public schools are doing a better job, about the same job, or a worse job of educating our young people than they did ten years ago?
REP DEM
80% 43% Better
9% 40% About the Same
11% 17% Worse
15.) Generally speaking, do you think too much, about the right amount, or not enough tax money is presently being spent on public school education in Pennsylvania today?
REP DEM
13% 10% Too Much
31% 17% About the Right Amount
56% 73% Not Enough
16.) Do you think the state was justified in passing the Educational Empowerment Act which immediately removed control of two distressed school districts from their elected school boards and positioned a number of other school districts for similar action if they don’t achieve certain minimal educational standards?
REP DEM
37% 50% Yes
33% 40% No
30% 10% No Opinion
17.) If you were asked to assign a letter grade based on the overall job our public schools are doing in educating our young people today, what would that grade be?
REP DEM
78% 3% A
13% 59% B
7% 31% C
0% 3% D
2% 3% F
18.) Some states within the nation have a Right to Work law which means that a worker cannot be fired or kept from having a job for either joining or not joining a labor union. Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that such a law would be good for Pennsylvania?
REP DEM
57% 17% Strongly Agree
24% 21% Somewhat Agree
4% 7% Somewhat Disagree
11% 55% Strongly Disagree
4% 0% No Opinion
19.) In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, all employees such as teachers, firemen, state workers and local government employees are required to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment. Do you AGREE or DISAGREE with this arrangement that requires public employees to support a union in order to work for the government in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?
REP DEM
2% 62% Strongly Agree
9% 17% Somewhat Agree
14% 14% Somewhat Disagree
73% 7% Strongly Disagree
2% 0% No Opinion
20.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that as a condition of employment government workers should be prohibited from going on strike?
REP DEM
54% 17% Strongly Agree
22% 23% Somewhat Agree
15% 30% Somewhat Disagree
9% 30% Strongly Disagree
21.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that public school teachers should be required to join a labor union and be required to pay union dues as a condition of their employment?
REP DEM
0% 50% Strongly Agree
4% 20% Somewhat Agree
20% 13% Somewhat Disagree
73% 17% Strongly Disagree
3% 0% No Opinion
22.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that public school teachers should be required to join a labor union AND be required to pay union dues as a condition of their employment if a portion of those dues goes to union political activities?
REP DEM
2% 40% Strongly Agree
0% 27% Somewhat Agree
9% 13% Somewhat Disagree
87% 20% Strongly Disagree
2% 0% No Opinion
23.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE with the Pennsylvania 21st Century Environmental Commission’s claim that “urban sprawl” is the number one environmental problem facing Pennsylvania?
REP DEM
36% 65% Agree
64% 35% Disagree
24.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that land use, community planning and zoning powers should be taken away from municipal governments and turned over to county or regional governments?
REP DEM
33% 45% Agree
67% 55% Disagree
25.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that Pennsylvania’s municipalities should be given more power to control land use and zoning?
REP DEM
67% 72% Agree
33% 28% Disagree
26.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that over the past five years, your home area has experienced TOO MUCH growth?
REP DEM
34% 46% Agree
66% 54% Disagree
SECTION III: DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS
1.) Are you:
REP DEM
20% 3% Very Conservative
53% 7% Somewhat Conservative
22% 34% Moderate
4% 41% Somewhat Liberal
0% 14% Very Liberal
2.) Are you:
REP DEM
68% 41% Male
32% 59% Female
3.) Your age group would be:
REP DEM
7% 3% 18-30
33% 23% 30-50
38% 57% 50-65
22% 17% Over 65
The Lincoln Institute’s 2000 Delegate Issues Survey was conducted between June 2, 2000 and June 23, 2000. All Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the Republican and Democrat national conventions were mailed survey questionnaires. A total of 46 Republicans and 30 Democrats responded to the survey.
