New Poll: 80 Percent of Swing State Voters Want Action on Sequestration before Elections

Harris Interactive Poll of likely voters in Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri finds high levels of awareness and concern about sequestration cuts

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Four out of five likely voters in critical battleground states want our leaders in Washington, DC to find an alternative to "sequestration" budget cuts before the November elections take place, according to a Harris Interactive online poll released today on behalf of the Aerospace Industries Association.  

"We've always known that sequestration is bad policy. Now we know it's bad politics as well," said AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey. "This survey shows that opposition to these reckless cuts runs from north to south, from old to young, and from left to right —
80 percent opposition means the call to put an end to sequestration is bipartisan without doubt. And swing state voters now stand alongside a swelling chorus of Americans, from military planners to small business owners to Congress' own budget analysts, all saying the same thing: we need action on sequestration, and we need it now."

AIA commissioned the poll as part of the Second to None campaign, an advocacy initiative to bring awareness of the risks to our economy, national security and technological competitiveness from ill-considered cuts to aerospace and defense budgets.

"This survey reveals that the American voting public is waking up to the danger of sequestration to our economic and national security," said International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers International President R. Thomas Buffenbarger.  "Now is the time for politicians to put aside the Beltway politics that have failed America and come up with a balanced solution that protects our ability to respond to a national security threat.  This crisis demands immediate action.  We must not wait until after the November elections."

The poll, conducted by Harris Interactive from August 9-15, surveyed 4,042 U.S likely voters age 18 years or older across five states likely to determine control of the White House and United States Senate next year — Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. The poll found that concern over sequestration cuts across age, party, race and regional lines. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of likely voters in these states said they were aware of this issue prior to taking the poll, a remarkable degree of penetration for such a topic.

The study interviewed U.S. residents who are registered voters and likely to vote in the November 2012 election (self-described as absolutely/very certain they will vote). Specifically, the sample sizes by state are: Florida n=810; Missouri n=807; Virginia n=808; Ohio n=809; and Pennsylvania n=808. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

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Founded in 1919 shortly after the birth of flight, the Aerospace Industries Association is the most authoritative and influential trade association representing the nation's leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military and business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aircraft systems, space systems, aircraft engines, missiles, homeland and cybersecurity systems, materiel and related components, equipment services and information technology.

SOURCE Aerospace Industries Association