CPAC Straw Poll

  • by:
  • 03/02/2023

A poll of the 4,600 participants in the 30th annual Conservative Political Action Conference, held January 30-February 1, was conducted by Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates. A total of 621 conferees took part in the survey.

The poll shows a solid majority of attendees believe President Bush is doing a good job and homeland security should be a top priority.

Here are the highlights:

Thinking in general terms, which of the following issues do you view as the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE for President Bush and the Republican Congress to address?

Reducing wasteful federal spending
11.2
Cutting taxes
8.5
Improving education
3.3
Prohibiting abortion
9.8
Restoring honesty and integrity to government
4.6
Ensuring Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction & removing Saddam Hussein from power
18.2
Reforming immigration laws
6.0
Addressing declining moral values
2.4
Rebuilding our military defense system
7.8
Fighting terrorism at home and abroad
23.3
Saving the Social Security system from bankruptcy
1.0
Reforming health care systems (HMOs, Medicare, Medicaid,etc.)
2.0
Other
2.0

Thinking in general terms, which of the following issues do you view as the SECOND MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE for President Bush and the Republican Congress to address?

Reducing wasteful federal spending
15.5
Cutting taxes
19.6
Improving education
4.1
Prohibiting abortion
5.7
Restoring honesty and integrity to government
5.1
Ensuring Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction & removing Saddam Hussein from power
12.6
Reforming immigration laws
4.7
Addressing declining moral values
3.6
Rebuilding our military defense system
7.5
Fighting terrorism at home and abroad
14.8
Saving the Social Security system from bankruptcy
3.3
Reforming health care systems (HMOs, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.)
2.4
Other
1.1

In general, do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as President?

Strongly Approve
70.9
Somewhat Approve
25.2
TOTAL APPROVE
96.1
Somewhat Disapprove
2.5
Strongly Disapprove
1.5
TOTAL DISAPPROVE
4.0

In general, do you approve or disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war on terror?

Strongly Approve
76.1
Somewhat Approve
19.8
TOTAL APPROVE
95.9
Somewhat Disapprove
2.5
Strongly Disapprove
1.6
TOTAL DISAPPROVE
4.1

In general, do you approve or disapprove of President Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq?

Strongly Approve
70.8
Somewhat Approve
22.4
TOTAL APPROVE
93.2
Somewhat Disapprove
3.4
Strongly Disapprove
3.4
TOTAL DISAPPROVE
6.8

Of the following whom do you believe DEMOCRATS will nominate for President in 2004?

Delaware Senator Joe Biden
1.0
New York Senator Hillary Clinton
9.5
California Governor Gray Davis
0.7
Vermont Governor Howard Dean
3.1
North Carolina Senator John Edwards
18.8
Former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt
8.7
Florida Senator Bob Graham
1.1
Former Colorado Senator Gary Hart
0.2
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry
28.3
Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman
25.0
Reverend Al Sharpton
2.5
Other
1.1

If Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist retires this year, who would you like to see President Bush appoint as the next Chief Justice?

Justice John Paul Stevens
1.3
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
8.2
Justice Antonin Scalia
50.0
Justice Anthony Kennedy
1.5
Justice David Souter
0.3
Justice Clarence Thomas
28.7
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
0.5
Justice Stephen Breyer
0.5
Someone not presently on the Supreme Court
9.0

Of the following, who do you think represents the greatest threat to the security of the United States?

Al Qaeda
34.9
China
22.2
Iran
4.2
Iraq
26.1
North Korea
12.6

Who in President Bush's cabinet do you think does the best job of speaking to conservatives in the U.S.?

Spencer Abraham (Energy)
1.0
John Ashcroft (Justice)
31.1
Elaine Chao (Labor)
4.0
Don Evans (Commerce)
0.7
Norman Mineta (Transportation)
0.8
Gale Norton (Interior)
1.3
Rod Paige (Education)
1.0
Colin Powell (State)
9.4
Anthony Principi (Veterans)
0.0
Tom Ridge (Homeland Defense)
1.8
Donald Rumsfeld (Defense)
45.9
John Snow (Treasury)
0.3
Tommy Thompson (Health & Human Services)
2.5

What issue or issue area, in your opinion, best defines the Republican Party as it is today?

Tax Cuts
21.6
Fiscal Discipline
10.8
National Defense
49.5
Family-focused
12.1
None of the above
6.0

On the issue of tax policy, which ONE of the following should the Bush Administration pursue FIRST?

Eliminate the double taxation of dividends
19.0
Simplify the tax code and reduce the number of brackets
33.2
Increase the child tax credit to $1,000 for families from the current $500
8.0
Reduce the marriage penalty by reinstating the 10% deduction for 2 earner couples
15.4
Eliminate the 'Death Tax'
24.3

Some conservatives have warned of what they see as a growing threat to individual freedom resulting from measures adopted to fight terrorism. Which of the following best describes your personal feelings on this issue?

The concerns about the threat to individual freedom are justified.
46.1
The government can be trusted to fight the war against terrorism without doing harm to the traditional civil liberties guaranteed under our constitution.
32.9
We should be prepared to give up some freedom for increased security.
20.9

As you may know, there is a proposal to grant amnesty to all immigrants who are in the United States illegally. Do you approve or disapprove granting amnesty to immigrants who are in the United States illegally?

Strongly Approve
2.3
Somewhat Approve
8.2
TOTAL APPROVE
10.5
Somewhat Disapprove
18.6
Strongly Disapprove
70.8
TOTAL DISAPPROVE
89.4

Which of the following statements best describes how you would characterize yourself politically?

I'm a conservative first and a Republican second
70.3
I'm a conservative first and a Democrat second
1.0
I'm a conservative first and an Independent second
4.1
I'm a Republican first and a conservative second
20.1
I'm a Democrat first and a conservative second
0.5
I'm an Independent first and a conservative second
4.0

Please read through the following list of political figures. For each one, please indicate your impression of that person - whether you view them very favorably, somewhat favorably, somewhat unfavorably, or very unfavorably. If you have not formed an impression about the person or have never heard of him or her, just mark it that way.

 
Very Favorable
Somewhat Favorable
Total Favorable
Somewhat Unfavorable
Very Unfavorable
Total Unfavorable
No Opinion
Never Heard Of
Don Nickles
25.0
27.4
52.4
4.2
1.2
5.4
21.5
20.7
Bill Frist
48.1
31.1
79.2
2.5
1.3
3.8
9.2
7.7
George Allen
29.9
21.1
51.0
2.7
0.7
3.4
19.6
26.0
Roy Blunt
9.7
18.1
27.8
0.7
0.5
1.2
26.9
44.1
Colin Powell
34.9
44.0
78.9
16.1
4.3
20.4
0.7
0.0
John Ashcroft
55.2
32.9
88.1
7.2
3.1
10.3
1.3
0.2
Pat Buchanan
18.5
37.2
55.7
25.9
13.8
39.7
4.6
0.0
George W. Bush
79.8
15.9
95.7
2.1
2.0
4.1
0.2
0.0
Dick Cheney
79.8
15.6
95.4
1.8
1.8
3.6
1.0
0.0
Tom DeLay
54.9
27.3
82.2
4.3
2.1
6.4
9.1
2.3
Dennis Hastert
42.6
33.9
76.5
3.5
1.3
4.8
10.7
7.9
Trent Lott
19.7
38.5
58.2
28.3
8.4
36.7
4.5
0.7
John McCain
9.2
20.3
29.5
30.6
35.7
66.3
3.4
0.8
Karl Rove
34.7
28.1
62.8
5.9
3.5
9.4
14.6
13.2
Donald Rumsfeld
76.3
16.3
92.6
1.8
1.8
3.6
3.0
0.8
Rudy Giuliani
55.0
30.0
85.0
7.9
4.3
12.2
2.3
0.5
Jeb Bush

49.8

38.2
88.0
4.0
1.5
5.5
6.3
0.2
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