[US] Poll results: Eliminating poverty should be No. 1 U.S. priority

From The San Jose Mercury Times

PETER PRENGAMAN

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Eliminating poverty in America is more important than fighting terrorism, especially to blacks, U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq, and money saved on war should be used to rebuild hurricane-scarred New Orleans, according to a national poll released Thursday.

When asked, "What do you think should be the most important priority for the U.S.?" a majority of blacks, 58 percent, chose "eliminating poverty" over other answer choices "rebuilding our own cities," "fighting terrorism," and "establishing democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Pluralities of other ethnic groups - 43 percent of Hispanics, 40 percent of Asians and 36 percent of whites - also chose eliminating poverty as their top priority.

"I don't remember poverty ever finishing as the No. 1 priority on any kind of list," said Sergio Bendixen, whose firm Bendixen & Associates conducted the poll. "The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the images of poverty have clearly made a large impact on many Americans."

Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast in September, killing more than 1,000 people and devastating New Orleans. President Bush and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were sharply criticized for sluggish response efforts as millions of television viewers watched thousands of New Orleans residents - many black_ struggling to survive amid abject poverty.

The survey was conducted by telephone Oct. 14-21 among 1,035 adults nationwide - 258 whites, 268 Hispanics, 259 blacks and 250 Asians.

Most were sampled using the "random digit dial" technique, to reach people with unlisted and listed phone numbers. Japanese, Asian-Indians and Filipinos - half the Asian subgroup - were sampled based on first and last names from phone listings and other public databases.

Interviews were conducted in six languages. The sampling error for each subgroup was plus or minus 6 percentage points except sampling error cannot be calculated for Asians not sampled using random digit dial.

The poll found that a majority of blacks, Asians and Hispanics, and a plurality of whites believed U.S. troops should be pulled from Iraq to pay for rebuilding in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

When asked "How should the government finance its share of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort?" 77 percent of blacks, 69 percent of Hispanics, 60 percent of Asians and 46 percent of whites chose "By getting our troops out of Iraq as soon as possible."

The findings were similar to an AP-Ipsos poll last month that found 42 percent favored cutting spending on Iraq to pay for relief efforts in the Gulf Coast.

Thursday's poll found a majority in all four ethnic groups would first look to nongovernment groups for help during a future natural disaster.

Interviewees were asked, "If your community was impacted by a natural disaster similar to Hurricane Katrina, whom do you think you could count on the most to help your family?"

Eighty-one percent of blacks, 74 percent of whites, 69 percent of Hispanics and 63 percent of Asians chose community and religious organizations over government and the U.S. Armed Forces.

A point of divergence between whites and blacks centered on interpretations of television images showing people in New Orleans breaking into supermarkets and other stores in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Respondents were asked, "Do you think they were looters and criminals or do you think they were people trying to take care of their families and their needs?"

Fifty-seven percent of blacks answered "trying to take care of their families." Only 31 percent of whites chose that answer, while 46 percent of whites said the people "were looters and criminals."

Hispanics and Asians were almost evenly split on their interpretations.