Recession, candidates and the Jaguars
by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
On some issues, Daily Record readers voted in a clear and unified voice the past quarter.
For example, Daily Record readers who voted in the 13 Weekly Poll questions during the third quarter of 2010 overwhelmingly - at more than 90 percent - said they believed that businesses should be penalized for hiring undocumented immigrants and that the media coverage of the Quran drama in Gainesville was excessive.
In another show of strong agreement, almost 90 percent of you did not have your house on the market at the time of the July poll.
The Daily Record Weekly Poll is not scientific, but it does show readers’ points of view.
In other issues with clear majority votes, almost 80 percent of you said you did not think a mosque should be opened on private property near the World Trade Center site.
When it came to the economy, 77 percent of you said you believed the nation was heading into a double-dip recession (42 percent) or that the economy remained in a recession (35 percent).
The other 23 percent of you said the nation wasn’t headed back into recession.
On many other issues, readers were more closely split, sometimes almost 50-50. Here’s a recap:
• In response to the Aug. 30 question, 53 percent of you said you would vote for Republican Marco Rubio for the U.S. Senate, a majority, while 30 percent of you chose Independent candidate Charlie Crist and 17 percent voted for Democrat Kendrick Meek.
• A week later, 54 percent of you said you supported the Democrat ticket of Alex Sink and Rod Smith for the race for Florida governor and lieutenant governor, while 46 percent chose Rick Scott and Jennifer Carroll.
• Other government questions ended in almost 50-50 votes. For example, 51 percent of you agree that the U.S. government should continue to extend unemployment benefits, 51 percent of you have made a public comment at a government meeting, and 51 percent of you say government workers are overpaid. And almost half of you said the opposite to each.
• In a not-so-close vote, asked whether government should fund a day center for the homeless, 63 percent of you said no and 37 percent said yes.
• However, civic participation brought a close vote, too. Asked if you were a member of a Rotary Club or another service club, 54 percent of you said no and 46 percent said yes.
• In early August, well before Sunday’s win over the Indianapolis Colts, just over half of you, at 56 percent, said the Jacksonville Jaguars will sell enough season tickets to lift a blackout, while 44 percent said they wouldn’t.
Please take the Daily Re-
cord’s Weekly Poll at www.jaxdailyrecord.com. A new poll is posted online early Monday and voting ends at midnight Sunday. You can vote only once from an e-mail address.
This week’s question, heading into the final month before the Nov. 2 elections, is: What are you registered to vote as? Your choices: Republican, Democrat, Independent and Other.
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