Interesting poll on state/federal control of immigration, health care, abortion, same-sex marriage.
New findings from Public Religion Research Institute’s June Religion & Politics Tracking Survey show that Americans are less divided both on the approach and substance of the issue than one might assume. When asked whether a range of issues should be decided at the national or the state level, nearly 8-in-10 (77 percent) Americans say that immigration policy should be decided at the national level, while 1-in-5 (20 percent) say it should be left up to the states. Americans are more unified in their support for a federal approach to immigration policy than on any other issue, including health care policy and same-sex marriage. Strong majorities of Democrats (85 percent), Independents (77 percent), Republicans (68 percent), and Tea Party members (69 percent) all agree that immigration policy should be decided at the national level.
?uuid=lB5CgsqZEeG33e9--HGG3w
Moreover, a majority of Americans support immigration policy that goes beyond the more limited recent executive order by the Obama administration and closely reflects the national DREAM Act. A majority (55 percent) of Americans—and 72 percent of minorities—agree that illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children should be able to gain legal resident status if they join the military or go to college.
President Obama, meanwhile, recently exercised his ability to shape immigration policy at the federal level by announcing a Department of Homeland Security directive that would defer the deportation of, and grant work permits to, illegal immigrants under the age of 30 who came to the U.S. as children. Obama announced that he was “pleased” by the high court’s decision, and vowed to continue to make progress on comprehensive immigration reform.
If the Arizona v. United States decision, combined with Obama’s new directive, throws the spotlight back on immigration reform in any sustained way during the presidential campaign, it could have a serious impact on the Hispanic vote.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/figuring-faith/post/americans-less-divided-on-approach-to-immigration-survey-says/2012/07/09/gJQAI2ayYW_blog.html
Interesting that a majority of Americans also want health care policy determined nationally much to the dismay of republicans and teabaggers.
Democrats lead the way on the importance of the federal government leading the way on all four issues. Republicans and their farther-right cousins only want the federal government in the lead on immigration policy. They want the states to play a leading role in health care, abortion and same-sex marriage undoubtedly because they know they cannot prevail on those issues on a national level.
