NEW POLL: American Voters Disapprove of Iran Deal, Want Congress to Reject
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Americans oppose the Iran nuclear deal and want Congress to reject it, according to a new national survey of U.S. registered voters, and the more they are educated about the details of the agreement the more they disapprove of it.
The poll, conducted on behalf of The Israel Project (TIP) by Olive Tree Strategies and released today, found that pluralities of voters disapprove of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) announced earlier this month in Vienna, and they want their lawmakers to vote down the deal and keep sanctions against Tehran in place.
Approval of the agreement has dropped a net of 17 points in the past two months as the deal was concluded and taken up by Congress for a 60 day review. The poll indicates that a higher percentage of voters now disapprove of the agreement, 44 percent, than approve, 40 percent. Voters want Congress to reject the agreement by an even wider margin, with 44 percent of voters calling on lawmakers to "reject the deal and not lift sanctions" as opposed to just 33 percent who want them to "approve the deal and lift sanctions."
The full survey, data report, and analysis can be found on TIP's website: http://www.theisraelproject.org/u-s-national-registered-voter-survey-on-iran-nuclear-deal/
The findings converge with national polls done in recent days and weeks. The Pew Research Center published results earlier this month showing that just 38 percent of voters approve of the deal vs. 48 percent who disapprove. CNN subsequently published a survey showing that Americans want Congress to reject the agreement by a net 8 points, 44 vs. 52 percent. The Washington Post evaluated the results yesterday and concluded "public support for the final Iran deal is clearly weaker than before it was announced."
The negotiations with Iran are being subject to intense voter scrutiny, with 76 percent of voters indicating that they've seen, read, or heard about the issue. Rising disapproval of the deal tracks with rising attention to the issue. When voters in the survey were presented with information from both sides of the debate a majority (53 percent) ended up calling on Congress to reject the deal. The arguments in support of the deal were taken directly from the White House advocacy webpage.
Voter disapproval of the JCPOA's terms is likely to have a political impact. Respondents were asked if they would be less likely or more likely to vote for a lawmaker who endorsed the deal and lifted sanctions on Iran. 50 percent of voters said they would be less likely to vote for such a lawmaker, with 35 percent saying they'd be much less likely to do so. Only 25 percent said they'd be more likely.
Most broadly, a majority of voters (52%) disapprove of President Obama's overall handling of the nuclear negotiations with Iran. The issue represents the President's lowest net rating across eight different issues, a net negative 15 point difference in which just 37 of the electorate approves.
The survey was conducted using online interviews. The data were weighted to approximate a national sample of registered voters based on census division, gender, age, ethnicity, income, education, and past voting behavior. The survey has a margin of error of 2.2% at a 95% level of confidence.
SOURCE The Israel Project
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