President Barack Obama might have carried the Sunshine State twice but a new poll shows Florida voters are ready for his time in the White House to end and that they oppose his policies in the Middle East.
Quinnipiac University released a poll on Monday which shows only 41 percent of Florida voters approve of Obama while 56 percent disapprove of him. A strong majority of Floridians -- 71 percent -- would not want to see Obama hold a third term in the White House (a constitutional impossibility). Only 26 percent of voters say they would like to see a third Obama term.
The poll also finds little support for Obama’s policies in the Middle East. A quarter of those surveyed -- 25 percent -- support Obama’s deal with Iran over that country’s nuclear program while 61 percent oppose it. Only 27 percent of those surveyed think the deal with Iran will make the world safer while 61 percent think it makes the world less safe.
Asked about whether or not American ground forces should be sent to Iraq and Syria to battle Islamic State (IS) terrorists, 55 percent of Florida voters supported the idea while 40 percent opposed it. The poll finds a bit of a gender gap on the issue with 62 percent of men and 48 percent of women supporting sending in ground troops to battle IS. Only 34 percent of men oppose sending in ground forces while 46 percent of women are against it.
The poll finds most Florida voters -- 63 percent -- think the U.S. and its allies are losing the battle against IS. Only 18 percent of those surveyed believe the U.S. and its allies are winning the fight against IS.
Asked if the federal government should pursue policies to reduce the gap between higher-earning Americans and lower-earning ones, 52 percent support the idea while 39 percent oppose it. A majority of Florida voters -- 55 percent -- said they were open to raising taxes on higher-earning Americans if balanced with a tax cut for the middle class, but 39 percent were against it.
Turning to the environment, 69 percent of those surveyed would like to see the federal government do more to combat pollution from coal and 73 percent of Florida voters say those efforts are needed. But 45 percent of those surveyed think that policy would wind up being too expensive while 41 percent say it would not.
On immigration, 53 percent of Florida voters say they support giving current illegal aliens living in the U.S. a chance to apply for citizenship while 31 percent say they should not be allowed to stay and 12 percent back letting them stay in the U.S. but not be put on a path to citizenship.
The poll of 1,093 Florida voters was taken from Aug. 7-18 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
