Washington, D.C. – With contentious midterm elections inching closer by the day, a new Mellman Group and Public Opinion Strategies poll finds that likely voters from across the political spectrum broadly support congressional action on manufacturing to create jobs and improve the economy.
Likely voters from all political affiliations and demographics consider specific aspects of a domestic manufacturing agenda as top priorities. These priorities include support for career and technical training (80 percent); rebuilding infrastructure (76 percent); and strong Buy America provisions to require taxpayer-funded projects use American-made products and materials (63 percent).
But despite the widespread support for these policies, likely voters don't see either party as doing much to support manufacturing. Just 33 percent of respondents said President Trump has "done a great deal" to create factory jobs, while 11 percent said the same about Congressional Republicans and only 7 percent said the same about Congressional Democrats.
Find more details on the poll in this memo.
Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said:
"There aren't many issues that unite voters these days, but pursuing a bold agenda to revitalize American manufacturing is one of them. As this poll shows, support for congressional action to create factory jobs and improve the economy is clearly a common-ground area.
"This isn't a Republican issue, nor is it a Democratic issue. It's an American issue that unites us. I urge all sitting members of Congress and candidates alike to listen to voters and put their weight behind policies that support American manufacturing jobs, strengthen our economy, and uplift hardworking communities."
BACKGROUND: This national survey polled 1,200 likely 2018 general election voters from Aug. 28 through Sept. 9, 2018. Survey interviews were conducted on both land-lines and cellphones, using a registration-based sample. The margin of error for is +/-2.8 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence, and is higher for subgroups.
Voters heard a list of policies and were asked how important each is when it comes to Congress and the president creating jobs and improving the economy. Large majorities across party and other demographic rated the specifics of a Congressional manufacturing agenda as most or very important. The top ranked priorities are investing in career and technical education in high schools and community colleges (80 percent); investing in repairing roads, bridges and basic infrastructure (76 percent); and requiring all taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects use American- made goods wherever possible (63 percent).
A 59 percent majority also felt it was important to "place trade restrictions on countries that violate trade agreements with us." And a similar 58 percent majority felt it important to crack down on unfair trade. The large majority supporting getting tough on trade is consistent with the findings in our Sept. 20 memo on tariffs, which showed that voters are more concerned about unfair trade than about trade wars, and 63 percent either support the tariffs on China or would like to give them more time to work.
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