Des Moines Register
09-18-06
Poll: Many shun candidate proposals on English, abortion
Majorities back Culver's biofuel plan, Nussle's college loan idea
By JONATHAN ROOS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
A slender majority of likely voters in the Iowa governor's race oppose the strict
abortion ban advocated by Republican Jim Nussle.
A slim majority of likely voters are opposed to repealing the state law making
English Iowa's official language - an action favored by Democrat Chet Culver.
Large numbers of voters also don't buy some of the claims made by the
candidates in support of proposals ranging from increased ethanol production to
higher teacher pay.
Those are some of the key findings of a new Des Moines Register poll, taken last
week, that shows likely voters are evenly split in their support of the candidates,
with 44 percent backing Nussle, 44 percent backing Culver and 10 percent
undecided.
In recent weeks, the abortion positions of Nussle and Culver have received
increased scrutiny. Nussle, an eight-term Iowa congressman, has tried to clarify
his anti-abortion position in light of questions raised by his responses to a
candidate survey. Culver, Iowa's secretary of state, has offered fewer specifics
about his abortion rights position in saying that he wants the legality of abortion
to stand the way it is under current laws.
The Iowa Poll shows that 52 percent of adults who definitely plan to vote in the
Nov. 7 election are against the idea of banning all abortions except to save the
mother's life.
"I think it should be a woman's choice, especially with a woman's rape or incest,"
said poll participant Donna Ursta of Centerville. She said she is unsure which
candidate she will support.
A 43 percent minority of likely voters agree with Nussle in favoring such an
abortion ban. The rest are undecided. The poll has a margin of error of plus or
minus 4 percentage points.
"I'm pretty much against (abortion) for any situation, unless the mother's life is in
danger," said poll respondent Holly Boerhave, a 37-year-old homemaker from
Norway, Ia., who backs Nussle. "If it was me in that situation, I'd probably say,
'Save the baby.' "
Another hot-button issue on which the candidates sharply disagree is the fate of
Iowa's four-year-old official English law, which Nussle firmly supports and Culver
would like to repeal.
The poll shows 54 percent of likely voters are against repeal of the law requiring
that government documents, proceedings and publications be in English with
some exceptions. Forty-two percent favor the statute's removal.
While the candidates are trying hard to sell their ideas to the Iowa electorate,
some of the claims they make in support of their proposals are ringing hollow
with voters who don't believe what they're hearing.
Culver says his eight-point renewable-energy plan "will help us to achieve energy
independence from the sheiks, dictators and other sources of foreign oil." But the
Iowa Poll shows that 55 percent of likely voters don't believe that expanding the
state's production of ethanol and other biofuels will eventually make the state
independent of foreign oil.
"I would love for that to happen," said Boerhave. "I just have this skepticism that
we would have enough fields to grow the corn in Iowa."
Fifty-six percent of likely voters don't think cutting school administrative costs
would provide enough savings to raise teacher salaries above the national
average, as Nussle has proposed.
"There's really a shortage of good administrators in the state, and
superintendents are at a premium," said Ursta, a retired teacher. "We have a lot
of schools that are already sharing superintendents in our area."
Seven in 10 likely voters don't believe Culver's assurances that more of the
money in Iowa's largest public employee retirement fund could be earmarked for
investment in Iowa startup companies without risk for retirees.
"What happens if (the business owner) loses that million dollars and he has
nothing to show for it?" said poll participant Daryl Cleveland, a retired postmaster
from Odebolt. His wife, director of the Odebolt Public Library, is a member of the
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System.
Two-thirds of likely voters don't believe that growth in state revenue will be
sufficient to pay for significant spending increases without cutting services.
Both candidates have outlined ambitious programs that would require additional
spending. While they promise to find budget savings, they're counting on
continued revenue growth to at least partially underwrite the cost of their plans.
There are slightly more believers than nonbelievers on two other assumptions
that get bandied about: Tax cuts stimulate the economy and result in more state
revenue, and commercial property taxes are hindering Iowa businesses.
On the volatile issue of abortion, the poll shows Iowans are divided on the degree
to which abortion should be legal or illegal.
Thirty-six percent of likely voters say abortion should be illegal in most cases.
Slightly fewer - 31 percent - believe it should be legal in most cases.
Sixteen percent say abortion should be illegal in all cases, and 13 percent think it
should be legal in all cases. Four percent are unsure.
"Most people are in the middle. They are in that gray area," said Dianne
Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and
Politics at Iowa State University.
On a separate poll question, most likely voters say they would permit abortions
when the mother's life is at risk, when her physical or mental health is at risk,
when a pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, or when a minor is involved if the
parents give their permission.
On the other hand, nearly two-thirds would not permit an abortion after the first
three months of pregnancy.
While the abortion issue matters most to the relatively small segments of voters
who either want to totally outlaw abortion or keep it free of any restrictions,
Bystrom said the issue could be on the minds of more voters this fall.
More is at stake, she said, because of South Dakota's abortion ban, intended by
its sponsors as a direct challenge to Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme
Court decision that made abortions legal, and because of changes in the makeup
of the Supreme Court.