Nearly four out of five Americans planning to vote in the upcoming presidential election are concerned with issues related to children's health care, a nationwide telephone survey of 800 registered voters shows.
The survey found that 79% of voters favor increasing federal spending to provide health care to uninsured children. Support for this increased funding crossed party lines, finding approval among 93% of voters supporting Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), 60% of voters supporting Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and 77% of swing voters.
“I take away from this information that, whatever their political persuasion, Americans want more investments in their children and grandchildren,” said Michael R. Petit, president of the Every Child Matters Education Fund (ECMEF), said at a July 17 teleconference. ECMEF is the nonprofit organization that commissioned the poll.
The survey was conducted July 7–10, 2008, by Third Eye Strategies, a national public opinion research organization. Respondents were randomly selected from a cluster sample provided by Survey Sampling International.
Voters were asked whether they would increase or decrease federal spending on several programs and initiatives, including Social Security, Medicare, and the Iraq war. The issue of children's health care was the only one that earned support from a majority of Sen. McCain's supporters, Sen. Obama's supporters, and undecided voters.
Overall, 60% of voters would support increased spending on child abuse prevention, while increased funding for prekindergarten education and after-school programs found approval among 58% and 57% of respondents, respectively. The prospect of increasing funding for child-related programs garnered more support than that of heightened spending on Social Security (58%), Medicare (53%), farm programs (46%), homeland security (37%), and the Iraq war (20%).
Voters were also asked how the next president should prioritize efforts to address several contemporary issues, including children, tax cuts, and the federal budget. A majority of all voters (57%) said that investing in children's health, education, and safety should be a greater priority than making tax cuts permanent, while 49% of respondents said that investing in children is more important than balancing the budget. An additional 21% said that both should be a priority.
For Mr. Petit, the results of the survey highlight the importance of children's health care in the 2008 presidential campaign, especially considering the current closeness of the contest. The ECMEF poll found that 14% of voters are undecided, while 40% said that there is a small to fair chance that they might shift their support to another candidate.
The survey also found that voters are largely uninformed about the presumptive nominees' plans to address children's health issues. When asked to describe Sen. Obama's strong points on issues involving children and families, 34% of all voters could not respond or declined to do so. When asked the same question of Sen. McCain, 48% of all voters could not or did not respond.
“Senators McCain and Obama have a long way to go in satisfying voters with specific information about how their agendas will benefit children and families,” Mr. Petit said.
“Most voters have little idea where Senators McCain and Obama stand on children's issues. That lack of clarity needs to clear up because the stakes for America's children are huge.”
The poll has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.