Posted on 06/22/2007 2:44:34 PM PDT by wagglebee
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The issue of abortion is seen as a top issue in the 2008 presidential election by 40 percent of Americans, indicating the contentious subject still plays a prominent role in how people case their ballot for president. Previous polls have shown that the pro-life position gives presidential candidates an edge.
The new figure comes from a survey the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press conducted.
It found that abortion is important for 38 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of Republicans and with Republicans tending to be more pro-life than Democrats that translates into an advantage for pro-life candidates.
Other political issues such as terrorism and immigration scored higher on the Pew survey in terms of whether a voter considered it an important issue. For GOP voters, environmental issues ranked lower than abortion in terms of importance.
The Pew poll also found that, among Republican voters, those who are more likely to say that abortion is a key topic in determining their vote are less likely to support pro-abortion ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Republican voters have previously turned away pro-abortion candidates from capturing the primary nod, including former California Gov. Pete Wilson and Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter. Republicans haven't had a pro-abortion nominee since Gerald Ford in 1976.
Polls have also shown that abortion is a winning issue for GOP presidential candidates.
Post-election polling after the 2004 presidential elections found that President Bush's pro-life stance gave him an edge over pro-abortion Sen. John Kerry.
A 2004 Wirthlin Worldwide post-election poll found that 42 percent of voters said abortion affected the way they voted for president. Twenty-four percent of voters cast their ballots for President Bush while 15% voted for Kerry, giving Bush a 9 percent advantage on the issue of abortion.
Eight percent of voters in the Wirthlin poll indicated abortion was the "most important" issue affecting their votes and Bush won among those voters by a six to two percent margin, leading Kerry by four percentage points among the most intense abortion voters.
Pew conducted its new survey from May 30-June 3 and interviewed 1,503 adults
It's time for Rudy to get out of the race.
Pro-Life Ping
Why? He's the only one who is electable and has proven he can beat Her Dark Reptilesbian Overlordessness.
Not true; I don’t buy the “Ponly Rudy Can Save Us” Argument, anymore..
You’re being sarcastic right?
Yes, I am being sarcastic.
Eight percent of voters in the Wirthlin poll indicated abortion was the "most important" issue affecting their votes
Either there has been a sea change of opinion on this over the past two and a half years or else one of these polls is lying.
Don't Rudyphiles ever use any other talking points? Any of them true?
Giuliani is pro-abortion (even government funding), and has a real problem with the sentiment indicated in this poll.
Sarcastic, eh?
Well that’s a relief.
And you got me good.
This is one reason I think the “W is evil” crowd are off the mark. There are quite a few children alive today (and more in the future) on account of his actions in this area.
I agree and I’m not a Bushbot. More could be done certainly but given the condition of this society today I have to give our president an ‘A’ here.
.
She's beating his sorry a$$ right now. If they GOP can't come up with a half-dozen other guys to beat her, they don't deserve to win.
Ask the most dedicated, pro lifer about exactly what they want, as a practical policy matter, and more often than not they are stumped.
Lock up pregnant woman seeking abortions?
Lock up doctors performing abortions?
Is it murder, as they often say? If so, should it be a captial crime? Is the doctor the murderer,and the woman a conspirator?
Just what do they mean by making abortion illegal, as a practical matter?
It means stopping the culture of death from murdering 3500 infants a day.
That’s a goal - what are the practical policy steps towards that end?
Making it a crime for ANYONE to perform an abortion.
Very misleading report. Very misleading poll. Very misleading headline.
I dunno, maybe i’m seeing pink gorillas, but this seems like a contrived attempt to bring RoeVWade back into play after Thompson’s statements last week. Guiliana is a putz, but Thompson didn’t dance around. And usually Abortion doesn’t come into play until we’re down to two months before voting.
So who is it that’s running that just can’t wait, had to start campaigning 6 months before anyone else, oh and thinks she owns the abortion issue? .....
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