SENATE SHOULD RATIFY NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT TREATY,
U.S. VOTERS TELL QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY NATIONAL POLL;
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1448
American voters say 60 – 33 percent that the U.S. Senate should ratify the nuclear disarmament treaty President Barack Obama recently signed with Russia, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Support for Senate action is 74 – 21 percent among Democrats and 63 – 32 percent among independent voters, while Republicans oppose the measure, 48 – 43 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey finds.
Voters agree 79 – 17 percent that the biggest threat to U.S. security is the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon.
American voters approve of most of President Obama’s nuclear policy:
· 54 – 42 percent in favor of reducing the number of U.S. nuclear weapons;
· 49 – 47 percent favor the U.S. stopping development or testing new nuclear weapons;
· 57 – 36 percent support banning use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear nations;
· 58 – 36 percent disapprove of a ban on U.S. use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear nations even if they launch a biological or chemical weapons attack on the U.S.;
· 49 – 44 percent disapprove of Obama announcing the U.S. won’t use nuclear weapons in certain situations.
Voters support 70 – 28 percent the U.S. and Russia working to eliminate all nuclear weapons in the world, but they say 87 – 11 percent that such a goal is not realistic. And voters say 25 – 18 percent that Obama’s nuclear policy increases, rather than decreases, the chance of nuclear war, while 47 percent say the nuclear policy doesn’t make a difference.
“American voters like the dream of a world without nuclear weapons, but they believe it is just that – a dream,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “They agree with many elements of President Barack Obama’s nuclear policy and they want the Senate to ratify the latest arms reduction treaty with Russia.
“But very few voters believe any of this makes the world any safer,” Brown added.
[Note – there are questions on other foreign policy issues, including Iran, the Middle East and Afghanistan]
From April 14 – 19, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,930 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points.
