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Poll: voters divided on heartbeat bill, want animal ban and hold on fracking
A new poll released Thursday found that Ohioans are divided over the ‘heartbeat’ bill, want hydro-fracking put on hold until its impact is studied and favor a ban on private ownership of exotic animals.
The Quinnipiac University poll also found that Ohio voters favor incumbent U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown over his likely Republican challenger Josh Mandel, and they give Gov. John Kasich a negative job approval rating and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman a positive one.
Ohio voters are divided 45 - 46 percent in their support for the ‘heartbeat’ bill pending in the Ohio Senate that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, the poll found.
If it passes, it would be one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country and would likely face court challenges. Half of Ohio voters say abortion should be legal while 44 percent say it should be illegal in all or most cases.
“Abortion remains perhaps the most divisive issue in the nation and there is an almost even split among Ohio voters over the fetal heartbeat bill,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Despite a partisan split over the issue, where Republicans support the measure 2-1 while Democrats oppose it 2-1, lower income voters, who tend to be Democrats, support the bill while high-income voters, who tend to be Republican, oppose it.”
The Quinnipiac University poll also found that 64 percent of voters believe the economic benefits of drilling for natural gas outweigh environmental concerns, 85 percent say drilling will create jobs, but 72 percent say hydro-fracking should be halted until its impact is studied further.
“Ohio votes are conflicted on hydro-fracking. They recognize the economic value of drilling for fossil fuels in the state, but are worried about potential environmental risks of the specific technique - hydro-fracking,” Brown added.
Lawmakers are also considering a bill to ban private ownership of dangerous wild animals - something 68 percent of voters support while 28 percent oppose, the poll said.
In the U.S. Senate race, Brown holds a 47 - 32 percent lead over Mandel, who has been state treasurer for one year. In October, the split was 49 percent for Brown and 34 percent for Mandel.
Both men enjoy strong support among their respective parties and Brown carries independent voters 44 - 27 percent. The poll found that 42 percent of voters view Brown favorably and 48 percent say he deserves another term. Meanwhile, 69 percent of voters haven’t heard enough about Mandel to form an opinion, the poll said.
“Mandel is pretty much an unknown to most Ohio votes and the race will be determined by whether Mandel’s ability to fill in the blanks in voters’ minds positively exceeds Brown’s ability to do so about him negatively,” said pollster Brown, who is not related to the senator.
The poll found that Portman, a Republican in his first term in the Senate, has a 39 - 25 percent job approval rating while Kasich has a 39 - 48 percent approval rating. Kasich had a negative score of 38 - 50 percent in October.
The poll, conducted Jan. 9 - 16, contacted 1,610 registered voters on landlines and cell phones. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percent.
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By James Mark
January 23, 2012 6:28 AM | Link to this
Obama’s decision to go against the pipeline shows his intentions of weakening America and having no concern for the jobs it would have created. Instead, he is working with Disney to fake us out making us think he wants to increase tourism when he wants to get more illegal voters in the country to support him. He is a Chicago thug, raised to respect the Islam faith and an enemy of the American way of life. We had better get him voted out this Fall and poll workers watch out for illegal voters!
By Willie Turner
January 21, 2012 12:14 PM | Link to this
I am not happy with the news media and the way they favor the liberal view and candidate more than the conservative. I am not happy with the newspapers for keeping our blogging down on their website. I honestly believe that President Obama is the most anti-American President we have had. He certainly seems more pro-Islam and much less pro-Christian. His decision to weaken our military is an outrage! The only thing he has done right is bring Stevie Wonder to the White House for a performance! I intend to vote Obama out this Fall!
By null
January 21, 2012 1:17 AM | Link to this
house Bill#125 aka heartbeat b. was devised by a Culligan bottle truck driver named Lynn. He is being led by a wacko women from Florida (she has a Mother in Cleveland)She came up to Ohio to get some dumb cluck to sponsor her ideas.It is a bill based on extreme ignorance. Most medical people are sshocked that our Rep & Senators in Columbus are voting on a bill that they do not even understand what a sonogram detects.. It detects the activity of the SA node. A group of cells that fire but it is not really a heatbeat. The heart does not function until the first breath, this forces the foramen ovale to close thus bedoming a heartbeat because the function of the heart is to circulate blood to oxygenate the blood to all the cells. We should deman an Electroencephalogram (EEG) on all that would vote for such a dumb bill. This bill MUST be defeated to prove there are still some brains in Columbus.
By Hmmmmmmmm?
January 20, 2012 8:47 PM | Link to this
@Squeaky, I was talking to SQUIRRELLY GIRL, who posts under a litany of assumed names.
By In The Know
January 20, 2012 10:06 AM | Link to this
Sen.Sherrod Brown has my vote! Did you know that Sen. Brown worked with Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont) to pass legislation that forced the disclosure of the payouts of the multi-TRILLION dollar “Secret TARP.” Did you know the he fought against the extension of the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthy and supported a proposal to break-up large financial institutions (all of which were bailed out significantly- and are larger today than they were during the bailouts). Sen. Brown supports the middle-class, and I support him!
By Also Bill
January 19, 2012 10:41 PM | Link to this
There may not be many decent conservatives but there sure are many more indecent liberals.
By Squeaky
January 19, 2012 11:20 AM | Link to this
Hmmmmmmm…Just saying what Bill said with just a twist..Critize my post but not Bill’s….Lead by example?? WTF does that mean? Your example? You make your assumptions (liberals can’t survive without them), and post with the same basic “shot” over and over again. I am not James, I’m sure he can speak for himself..just as I’m sure no matter what subject is posted for comment, you have nothing of value to offer, just your foolish prejudices.
By Hmmmmmmm?
January 19, 2012 10:54 AM | Link to this
You are getting more and more ridiculous, Squ—- I mean “James”! You never fail to make me laugh with your foolish, prejudiced rants, albeit a very SAD laugh, indeed. Way to lead by example—-wouldn’t Jesus be so proud of you? I think NOT!!!
By null
January 19, 2012 10:19 AM | Link to this
There are no decent conservatives……
By Squeaky
January 19, 2012 9:42 AM | Link to this
and those who get their only info from MSNBC…like Bill.
By Cluless Part II
January 19, 2012 8:43 AM | Link to this
NEWSWEEK recently asked 1,000 U.S. citizens to take America’s official citizenship test. Thew results? 29% couldn’t name the vice president. 73% couldn’t correctly say why we fought the Cold War. 44% were unable to define the Bill of Rights. And 6% couldn’t even circle Independence Day on a calendar. The country’s future is imperiled by our ignorance.
By Bill
January 19, 2012 8:32 AM | Link to this
To get an accurate poll they first must weed out those that only get their information from Fox News…like James
By The Average Voter is Clueless
January 19, 2012 8:07 AM | Link to this
I bet the majority of Ohioans polled can’t answer ONE of the following questions: … … … … 1) What is fracking? … 2) Who is Josh Mandel? … 3) Name at least ONE of US Senator from Ohio. … 4) What is the current US national debt? … 5) Who is the Vice President of the United States?
By James Mark
January 19, 2012 7:52 AM | Link to this
It would have made the poll more interesting to include how many believe the President, meaning Obama, is corrupt- how many believe he is a Muslim, how many believe he is out to weaken America and strengthen the Islamist efforts in our country. I won’t sell any of my property to a Muslim because I don’t want any Mosques built near me. Another polling question could be: Why does Michelle Obama take off on a separate jet with 35 friends when her husband is going to the same destination on Air Force One? My theory is she likes to show her activist side and act as though she is a big poopty do. The net neutrality, the messing with our military, Obama’s attitude toward Israel is terrible. I look forward to seeing a decent conservative win the election.