« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

MEMBER DIARY

New poll shows Ohioans lean Right on social issues

By: Kevin Holtsberry (Diary)  |  July 7th, 2009 at 02:36 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Ohio Right to Life released a new poll which they describe as the Ohio Cultural Index.  The index’s significant findings include:

  • 72% of Ohioans’ surveyed strongly believe in God;
  • 60% oppose abortion;
  • 54% believe abortion has a negative effect on women who have them;
  • 70% oppose use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion;
  • 45% believe entertainment today negatively impacts families;
  • 51% believe government policies are harming traditional family values;
  • 54% believe schools undermine values taught at home; and
  • 54% believe families do a worse job of developing character than a generation ago.

Some pretty interesting results:

The score indicates Ohioans are generally center-right in their social outlook, and hold an overall positive view of the state’s culture. However, on seven of the 10 questions, Ohioans have a more negative than positive perception. “Ohioans’ belief in God, their belief that tax dollars should not be used to pay for abortions, and their belief that abortions have a negative effect on the women who have them pushed the index above the ‘break-even’ mark of 50,” said Fritz Wenzel, president of Wenzel Strategies and a former pollster with Zogby International.

You can dig into the findings here (PDF).

OPO Button

Tags: , , ,

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • bk

    “You tossed us out for being corrupt, but you have seen that the Democrats are even worse so please give us another chance. We promise to be less corrupt than they have been.”

    That would fit Illinois too it seems.

    • farstar99

      Wow.
      Obama?s lost Ohio.

      OHIO!

      I would LOVE to see a poll like this for every state that voted him in.

      If there’s a similar 20 percent shift in them, he can’t be doing well.

  • AceInTX

    We have to grow the tent and ignore these uneducated rednecks!

    \sarc

  • TxCon

    suggest otherwise.

    • eburke

      you say you’ll govern one way, and then govern another, and on top of that demonstrate that you’re corrupt and power-hungry, you get thrown out on your a$$ as you deserve to be.

      Hmmm….sounds familiar.

      • TxCon

        will govern like a conservative? Plus, I don’t remember Blackwell doing what you are referencing.

        • eburke

          whose name is escaping me at the moment (I want to say Taft but that’s just from the deep, dark recesses of my subconciousl and could be/probably is wrong). Blackwell just got stuck picking up the pieces of a damaged R brand.

          And you’re right, liberal Dems don’t have to worry about running as a lib and governing like a conservative (if for no other reason than it’s never happened); It’s the GOP that has to worry about this because a) our folks actually expect you to do what you said you would; 2) the media never points out the ‘hypocrisy’ of liberal’s failed promises (witness the total lack of media coverage of The Ones plethora of broken promises); and, 3) when Rs govern differently than how they campaigned, the almost inevitably become “Dem-lite” and thus muddy the waters between the success which freedom brings vs the illusory security of lib government programs. So, as is often stated, it the discussion is between a little government and a lot of government, the latter almost always wins.

          The last R governor didn’t govern as a conservative and had numerous ethics problems. Thus, the GOP brand in OH has taken a beating. Hopefully, Kasich, Blackwell, Portman, et al. can bring it back.

  • its_a_right_wing_thing

    “?72% of Ohioans? surveyed strongly believe in God;
    ?60% oppose abortion;
    ?54% believe abortion has a negative effect on women who have them;
    ?70% oppose use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion;
    ?45% believe entertainment today negatively impacts families;
    ?51% believe government policies are harming traditional family values;
    ?54% believe schools undermine values taught at home”

    And yet they voted for the most liberal Democratic, Pro Abortion, secular (hasn’t found a church yet since November) Senator in the 110th Congress effectively turning the state from red to blue….if anything they are getting worse there in the dying rust belt state of Ohio. I don’t care what these “polls” say, they are dead wrong 180 opposite.

    • keeper

      The original post left out question #9 on the survey which asks.

      “…how strongly do you hold your current beliefs on abortion?”

      strongly pro choice 36.8%
      somewhat pro choice 9.3%
      neutral 12.5%
      somewhat pro life 8.1%
      strongly pro life 33.3%

      The “60% oppose abortion” is somewhat misleading. One can oppose abortion but still believe the government should make no laws outlawing it, which is the position of many pro choice supporters.

      • DONTREADONME

        By your argument I could swing your interpretation the other way, most somewhat pro-choice obviously means that many oppose the Roe v Wade decision and would support the decision of the individual state to make the choice. Watch how you assume, you should have just posted the results and not provided your commentary at the end because you were just as much misleading in providing your commentary (editorial).

        BTW, don’t assume that we around here are as easily misled as the masses that belive what the MSM tells them. Read interpretations from the AP sometime and then look at the same details buried in the study.

        • keeper

          The pro choice movement is about a woman having complete control over her pregnancy, no federal or state control over her decision, in regards to terminating the pregnancy or not. The “somewhat” refers to how passionately the respondent holds that belief, in the survey that is.

          The “60% oppose abortion” is from a completely separate survey question,

          • DONTREADONME

            glad to see that your making up whatever you want the result to mean, or your prognaticating the meaning of the results, but heh, feel free to hedge your bet on your assumption. Either you get my point or you don’t, you don’t. Fine, thanks for playing.

            BTW, see what Memlo said below, I wonder if the question was a four part multiple choice answer that was accompanied with a rational decription of what would happen if RvW was overturned and described in detail that we would find that your assumption is proven to be right. I provide you with the insight, now you can use your superlatives to make sweeping assumptions.

            Oh, I guess I could agree that 60% of those respondants would agree to limitations on abortion, how’s that?

          • keeper

            survey questions, Q11 and Q9. The original poster included Q11 results because it fit with their agenda but omitted Q9 results because it did not.

            The survey questions themselves are also worded very poorly, conflating abortion with either pro life or pro choice options.

      • Menlo

        There is no rational or realistic basis for opposition that would not prompt one to criminalize it.

        You are right that it is misleading, but that is because some respondents are delusional.

        • keeper

          That the majority of folks in Ohio are delusional

          • DONTREADONME

            snark off-> come on do you really need validation that you had the last word, OK, I will give it to you.

          • Menlo

            Most of those opposed to abortion also support criminalizing it. So only about 20-30 percent are.

          • DONTREADONME

            not worth it, though fun, definitely not worth getting into it, If keeper did not see my point about interpretations (s)he most certainly will not get your sound logic either.

          • keeper

            doesn’t reflect that, it actually states the opposite, that is what Q9 is all about.

          • gadawg225

            “There is no rational or realistic basis for opposition that would not prompt one to criminalize it.”

            Couldn’t one could oppose abortion because it is bad for women without believing it should be a criminal act? That could explain why 3/5 of respondents can oppose abortion while over half still say they are “pro-choice.”

            All that said, I don’t think we can know. There’s not enough data. The poll doesn’t ask about Roe or the legality of abortion directly.

            The fact that many Ohioans believe it is wrong is a strong starting point for the pro-life movement. The fact that most Ohioans believe they are pro-choice is a good fact for the pro-life organizations and pro-life candidates to be aware of when it comes to messaging. Ohioans are not radically pro-abortion.

  • alabamared

    America is conservative? Really? Who knew? It’s sad that this seems to come as a suprise to so many in the “mainstream” media.

    Looking at those numbers, you would almost think that if the GOP decided to nominate a candidate who actually had a track record that would appeal to conservatives, it would win an election or two.

    This should not be hard. America is a right-wing country. When we nominate right-wing candidates, we win. When we get caught chasing the fools gold of trying to please “the moderates” or the narrow demographic/ethnic group de jour, we lose.

    If I had better hair, I’d be a pundit.

  • snewb098

    Ohio voted for Obama or Acorn rigged the vote.
    In any case I’m glad I don’t live there.
    They got what they deserve and I hope they all suffer
    for the next 4 years for voting so liberal.
    Maybe a bunch of unions like SEIU reside there.
    Who knows? Who cares??

  • jyalai

    When the GOP focused on protecting the family from a nanny government, it won big. Parental notification rights on abortion, choice in education. strengthening family businesses, removing death taxes. Most Americans support these family issues. No one wants the government telling them how to run their family. At the heart of social conservatism is the desire to keep the government out of the family. Ohio’s polling demonstrates this kind of thinking. I would bet national polling would demonstrate similar numbers.

    • alexandriatulips

      no one wants the government trying to raise his kids

      • avgamerican

        However, yes they do. They want government raising their kids. Those of us that don’t want gov’t raising our kids are being out voted by those that do and their sympathizers.

        • jyalai

          People voted in the last two election cycles based on the media’s hype of George Bush’s supposed failures. The GOP was in shambles with no direction. It must stay on message. Republicans are for protecting families from intrusive government!

          The democrats win by focusing people’s attention away from actual legislation and toward broad emotional appeals to defeating straw men. They lose every time their legislation is exposed. Where was parental notification in the last election? Where was educational choice? Where was the fight for small businesses? With every piece of legislation they pass, democrats are destroying the American family. Everytime a camera fixates on a republican politician, that politician should be throwing that legislation back in their faces.

  • DavidSage

    I think the GOP’s traditional support of free trade is a huge drag on the party in a state like Ohio, and other important swing states in the rust belt that have numerous manufacturing jobs.

    It’s hard to blame people in the manufacturing sector in the US for not wanting more protectionist trade policies when they see all of their jobs being shipped abroad. You can try to explain that free trade creates more jobs here at home (which I believe is true in many cases) but all they see is one factory after another closing down and everything moving overseas.

    I think the GOP would have a lot of success in taking a different tact on trade, specifically with countries that are hostile to our interests, like China. In comparison, I have no issue with free trade with a country like Canada or Japan.

    The states in the rust belt are culturally conservative, but they’re going to vote pocketbook issues they feel effect their day to day lives first.

    In the same way, African-Americans and Latinos are also culturally conservative, but they’re still going to vote for the more secular party that promises more government ahead of this, since they feel that has a bigger impact on their well-being.

  • Flagstaff

    It’s the advance PR work and the activities going on inside that matter.

  • avgamerican

    It makes no sense that because of their disapproval of GOP they voted for something worse with BHO. I have a different view here. If you are a conservative, you believe in the God of all creation, then stop voting for everything that is in opposition to it. I have a strong disapproval of evangelical Obama voters who would embrace the destruction of a socialist anti-Judeo Christian agenda. If these poll numbers are true, then it isn’t the liberals we need to blame for the current and coming doom, it’s so called conservatives that have stabbed us in the back. Once again the point of my diary is made. “Moral realativism and the shrinking conservative base.”

    • izoneguy

      They will get religious real quick and start praying for some real CHANGE. They will be HOPING everyday for a saviour to appear.
      Many weak minded individuals thought Obama was that saviour but Obama is a false prophet. Islam denounces the misunderstanding that a man with perfect features will be the Antichrist. On the other hand it supports the Judaistic theology that satanic forces would be sent in the form of Antichrist (Obama) to test the whole mankind.

      • avgamerican

        that BHO represented everything opposed to a strong moral platform. Despite the deception of the the BHO media (ABC CBS NBC etc) BHO contradicted himself, proposed cuts to our military, preached socialism, and cheered homosexuality as well as abortion. They even saw who his closest friends and supporters were, Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright. Voters have no excuse. They knew exactly what this man stood for.

        • izoneguy

          all the things you listed. Many did, but enough did not. Obama knew that Americans were ready for a CHANGE but enough voters did not understand what KIND of CHANGE he was talking about. Many of these voters were the Jay Walking variety that do not know the significance of Dec. 7th 1941. Many of these Jay Walking voters do not know the significance of July 4th 1776. Many of these Jay Walking voters were actually watching that crap in LA today as black leaders glorified a brainless Michael Jackson.

          • avgamerican

            I think you would have to barely have a pulse not to know what BHO’s platform was for change. You hit it right on the head with the Michael Jackson thing.

          • izoneguy

            The politics of self destruction:

            Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor, was a political consultant for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992 and was counselor to Clinton in the White House.

            http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/07/begala.palin.republican.party/index.html

            Read how Begala spins the truth into a deception.
            Begala and the democrats are masters at this.
            This kind of “reporting” is what many millions of Americans took as the gospel truth:

            “A recent Democracy Corps poll

            http://www.democracycorps.com/strategy/2009/05/obama-closes-the-democrats-historical-national-security-gap/

            shows that by almost 2-to-1, Americans prefer President Obama’s approach on national security to the Bush-Cheney approach. Economic stewardship? Please. The Republicans inherited a robust economy, an economy that generated 23 million new jobs — and left us with a battered, shattered economy that’s shedding jobs at a record pace.”

            and later:

            “Instead, the GOP has a strategy of implacable opposition on issues where the country wants action, increasingly wild attacks on a popular president, and a desperate search for a charismatic savior. That’s no way to rebuild their party. The bloviations of Limbaugh, the winking of Palin and the dark brooding of Dick Cheney are no substitute for new ideas.

            Until Republicans prove they can revive their beleaguered party, no one will trust them to lead our beloved country.”

            http://www.democracycorps.com/about/

            Who we are
            Founders
            James Carville
            Stanley B. Greenberg

            NICE TO QUOTE YOUR INSIDE POLLING???

          • avgamerican

            I saw Boehner’s argument against Cap and Trade. A pollster summarized it as ineffective because Boehner did not personalize the consequences to viewers. He threw out numbers without showing the personal impact to the average american. Whereas on the otherside, the dems seem to be able to falsely convince the american people that we are going to create more jobs while preserving the environment at the same time. What they are careful not to state is the huge increase in costs that will be imposed on everyday necessities, gas electricity, transportastion and food production. Americans don’t know what is in store for the future. I do see your point on how communication makes a difference and it is absent from the GOP. MCCain was very ineffective at exposing Obama’s platform.

          • jyalai

            You hit the nail on the head.

            He read piece after piece of harmful legislation and tried to point out large tax increases, but he didn’t point to the personal pain the cap and trade will cause. Joe Blow trying to meet his families needs, will be paying more for electricity and more for gas. He and his wife will be sitting over the kitchen table for hours trying to figure out the forms they need to fill out because they want to sell their house, or buy one, or even a car. He will be forced to take government money, or pay exorbitant taxes. This bill is devastating to our families. That is the message John Boehner needed to drill home.

  • ohiobeagle

    Obama won Ohio
    1.Early voting–they’d hold a rally in the city then bus anyone who needed a ride to the board of elections where they could cast their vote. Our local paper reported it took 2-3 hours to move the voting line. Here’s a thought–if you’re too lazy/stupid/not out of bed until afternoon to vote on the actual voting day, don’t vote. I only voted by absentee ballot once–was out of the state and wanted to vote Romney just to make a statement.
    2. Same as everywhere else–hopey-changey young voters-although my 3 kids and most of their friends didn’t buy into it.
    3. Still fed up with Republicans-especially former governor Taft-and still sort of liking Strickland. Now that his numbers are headed south, we may elet a Republican in 2010. It’s especially comical to watch “Ted” blame state senate republicans for the fact we still don’t have a state budget-our pesky state constitution requires a balanced budget. Ted’s going to fix it though, by cramming slots down the throats of constituants.
    I am trying my hardest to get the heck out of this state.

    • avgamerican

      As a native Californian I grew up here. I lived my young adventurous years under a Ronald Reagen presidency that seemed to mask the growing liberal threat to prosperity and family values. At 23 I entered my career,I locked in with a family and was unable too just leave. Oh how I wish I would have seen it sooner. Several close acquaintances of mine moved to Texas last year to escape the economic and moral turmoil. I have at least 9 more years before I can retire, but at the rate we are going under the dems it may not matter where I go.