North Carolinians expressed low confidence in the abilities of current presidential candidates, particularly Republican contenders, to handle foreign and domestic affairs, indicated by a recent Elon University Poll.
Respondents were asked which candidate they were most confident of on matters of both foreign and domestic policy. No candidate achieved a confidence level higher than 50 percent, but President Barack Obama garnered the most votes in both categories.
Phone calls were made to 534 North Carolina residents March 26-29, and responses were recorded regardless of residents’ voting eligibility or likelihood to vote. Residents were asked to affirm or deny their confidence in each presidential candidate to handle both national and international issues.
“The big thing is that the Republican candidates haven’t been in North Carolina yet,” said John Robinson, director of communications for the Elon Poll. “We like to see people on our home turf. We like to hear them talk about issues that matter to North Carolina. The president has come to North Carolina a lot and he has established a presence here.”
Robinson acknowledged the poll results might change after the Republican candidates visit the state. Unforeseen events that require immediate response from the candidates could alter the numbers, too, he said.
But the numbers would still most likely remain the same if the Poll had considered voting eligibility and voting likelihood in the final results, Robinson said.
[box]Confidence on foreign policy: Obama: 42% Gingrich: 28% Romney: 24% Santorum: 22% Paul: 16%
Confidence on domestic policy: Obama: 38% Gingrich: 29% Romney: 28% Santorum: 24% Paul: 20%[/box]
“Most voters and residents have the same sort of feel about the candidates,” he said. “We didn’t ask the question ‘Who would you vote for,’ but more intimate and emotional kinds of questions. People know what they think about the candidates now. Whether that’s going to change when they go into the voting booth, I don’t know.”