The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY) July 4, 2004

The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY) July 4, 2004 Sunday Final Edition

Copyright 2004 Post-Standard, All Rights Reserved.
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)
July 4, 2004 Sunday Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A1
HEADLINE: POLITICAL ACTIVISM FOUND HIGHEST AMONG REPUBLICANS AND LIBERALS NEW YORK STATE EMPIRE STATE POLL 2004

BYLINE: By Rebecca James Staff writer

BODY:
In one of the more solidly Democratic states in the country, it is Republicans who are the more politically engaged, according to a Cornell University poll.

New York's Republicans are more likely than its Democrats to write letters to the editor, call radio talk shows, volunteer for campaigns and tell their friends how to vote.

Taking the political pulse of the state was a primary goal of the Survey Research Institute, which is housed at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, when it sampled the state this spring. The annual survey, in its second year, added more questions this year aimed at discovering the nature of New Yorkers' political participation.

The survey began by asking voters to identify themselves by political party and political orientation. While twice as many New Yorkers identify themselves as Democrat than as Republican, the split by political orientation is nearly even: 36 percent claim to be liberal, 33 percent moderate and 31 percent conservative.

The results showed that all New Yorkers report levels of political engagement considerably higher than the national average, said Cornell's Dietram Scheufele,, an assistant professor of communication who specializes in mass media and public opinion.

Here's a twist: In New York, the people who match and sometimes surpass Republicans in political action are those who identify themselves as liberals.

"It's hard to tell if that's a fluke of this particular year because of Bush and Iraq," said Jeff Stonecash, a professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Stonecash is also a veteran pollster for local candidates and media organizations.

It is typical that people who identify themselves as moderates feel less strongly about issues and get less involved than either liberals or conservatives, Scheufele said.

While people nationwide who do not belong to one of the major parties typically are less active in politics, that doesn't seem to be the case in New York. Those in New York who are independent or identify with minor parties often matched or exceeded the involvement of Democrats, according to the poll results.

Independents, who are considered the swing vote, reported high levels of skepticism about state government this year, at levels higher than Democrats. The issues independents selected as most important for the presidential race matched the Republicans more closely.

The higher levels of Republican participation are consistent nationally. Republicans tend to be in higher socioeconomic classes than Democrats, Scheufele said. People with more resources, of both time and money, usually participate more in politics, Scheufele said.

Cherl Heary, chair of Cayuga County's Republican Party, said she agrees that Republicans are willing volunteers: "I have not had any trouble getting volunteers to help with mailings or phone banks."

The chair of Onondaga County's Democratic Party, Robert Romeo, doesn't take issue with that political reality.

"Republicans are more activist," he said. "That is true.

"I think that's because their (Republican) political stances are so simplistic," Romeo said. "It's easier to feel stronger and you're more able to work in that direction, than when you see an issue is complicated and there may be some gray areas and some value to both positions."

Nationally, the country is about evenly split between the Republican and Democratic parties; Gallup polls show each claims about 45 percent of Americans. New York is one of seven states where Democrats more significantly outnumber Republicans.

While New York is not considered a battleground state in the presidential election, and likely to go for John Kerry, New Yorkers' high levels of political participation may have been nurtured by grass-roots activism spurred by Howard Dean's and Ralph Nader's organizations, Scheufele said.

It takes grass-roots efforts to increase Democratic turnout and energize the party's major constituents, including young people and minorities, while Republican turnout remains steadier whatever the year, Scheufele said. Participation depends on people who are already active in churches, civic organizations and other social networks, he said.

"The more you volunteer in a civic association, the more likely you are to participate yourself, because you constantly get recruited," Scheufele said.

Democrats and Republicans disagreed on what was the most important issue in the 2004 campaign. However, this may be an election year where major issues - such as the economy, health care and education - are not on people's radar, Scheufele said.

Most New Yorkers said the candidate's integrity and honesty was their primary concern. It scored so high because it was at the top of the list for Republicans. Democrats said the economy was most important, with integrity a close second. Twice as many Republicans picked integrity instead of the economy as the top issue.

Republicans can be expected to consider the economy a less important issue and to give both the state and federal economy better marks because Republicans are at the helm, Stonecash said.

"In severe recessions, it's not upper income groups that get hurt, although their stock portfolios may go down," he said.

The Empire survey does not characterize Upstate Republicans versus Downstate Republicans, but Heary said that local Republicans definitely still think the economy, while getting better, still needs a boost.

"I am a little surprised at the economy issue," she said. "Republicans that I talk to are very concerned about the economy."

New York State Empire State Poll 2004

What: The second annual poll of state residents on social, economic, political and workplace trends. It is done by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations Survey Research Institute at Cornell University.

When: The poll was conducted between Feb. 3 and April 21.

Who: Surveyors questioned 820 state residents.

Details: The survey had a 24 percent response rate. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.