|
VOTERS WANT ACTION ON DOMESTIC HUNGER
Election Day Poll – Key Findings
In good times and in bad, voters want their government to be generous to hungry people and act boldly to break the cycle of poverty that keeps millions of Americans at risk of hunger. Our polling has shown that Americans remain optimistic about our nation’s ability to end hunger. More than 75 percent of voters believe that we could dramatically reduce hunger in the U.S., if we made it a national priority.
The 2008 Hunger Message Project Election Day Poll found that voters feel a personal connection to what they see as a growing hunger problem. Voters want ambitious government action and they are willing to spend additional tax dollars to help hungry people, even when they are told the price tag.
SIX KEY FINDINGS ON DOMESTIC HUNGER
1. Voters overwhelmingly approve of President Obama’s plan to end child hunger by 2015 |
When asked whether they would favor spending additional tax dollars to end child hunger by 2015 – a plan proposed by the Obama-Biden campaign – 73 percent said ‘yes.’
The poll also asked voters to rate the effectiveness of each of the six components of the Obama-Biden plan. At least 70 percent of those polled rated each plank of the plan as effective, with an average effectiveness rating of 75 percent. |
| 2. With food prices rising, hunger has become a personal issue to voters |
| An overwhelming number of Americans experience personal impact from rising food prices. Almost one in every five Americans (19 percent) say they worry about themselves or someone they know going hungry and 38 percent buy less. |
| 3. Voters want to see the federal government spend more money on hunger |
Voters support new plans to fight hunger, even when they are told the price tag. Ttwo-thirds of those polled (64 percent) favor improving and expanding programs such as school breakfast and summer feeding in order to cut hunger and food insecurity by half—even if it costs $18 billion dollars a year.
The same number of voters (64 percent) favored including a temporary increase in food stamp assistance in a congressional economic stimulus bill. |
| 4. Voters want to see the President address hunger and poverty |
When asked what one issue voters wanted to see the next President make a top priority, a full 7 percent chose hunger or poverty-related issues (with 2 percent specifying fighting hunger in the United States and 3 percent specifying fighting poverty in the United States).
Although hunger and poverty did not surmount the broad campaign issues of the economy, Iraq and the war on terror, or reducing dependence on foreign oil, they exceeded other social issues such as protecting the environment and
fighting crime and drugs. |
| 5. Voters believe that the hunger problem is big and growing |
American voters are in widespread agreement that hunger in the United States is a growing problem. Of those polled, 83 percent believe hunger is a problem in the United States and nearly half (49 percent) said the hunger problem in America was worsening. |
| 6. American voters say they did not hear enough about hunger in the last election cycle. |
When asked whether they heard enough from presidential candidates about reducing hunger in America and globally, 60 percent said they did not.
At the same time, hunger mattered to voters when they entered the voting booth. More than half (55.6 percent) said candidates’ positions on hunger were important when deciding their vote for president and almost exactly half (51 percent) said candidates’ positions on hunger were important in deciding their vote for Congress. |
SUMMARY: Voters Want Action on Domestic Hunger - Six Key Findings
FULL REPORT: An Electorate Ready for Action - 10 Key Findings on Hunger
|
