May 24, 2010 - Life Goes On After Attempted Car-Bombing, New York City Voters Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Voters Split On Whether City Is Prepared For Attack Word format New York City voters say 86 - 14 percent that they are going about life as usual despite the failed car bombing in Times Square earlier this month, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Men say 90 - 10 percent that they are going on with their lives as usual rather than making changes, while women say 83 - 17 percent that they are living life as usual. This "life as usual" attitude ranges from 76 - 23 percent in The Bronx to 90 - 10 percent in Manhattan. A total of 69 percent of voters are "very worried" or "somewhat worried" about another terrorist attack in New York City. Voters split 49 - 45 percent on whether the city is prepared for another attack, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. But when asked how their leaders and police are handling terrorism, voters approve: 85 - 11 percent of how New York City police are handling terrorism; 71 - 18 percent of how Mayor Michael Bloomberg is handling terrorism; 65 - 29 percent of how President Barack Obama is handling terrorism. Voters approve 70 - 17 percent of the job Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is doing. White voters approve 77 - 10 percent while black voters approve 68 - 23 percent. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. Life goes on. "What's the explanation? Are New Yorkers naive, saying it won't hit me, or are they just being New Yorkers - no one's going to tell me what to do? Whatever, we won't let concerns about terrorism change how we live our lives," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Mayor Bloomberg, President Obama and, most of all, the cops - we think they're all doing a good job fighting terrorism." Government should take all steps necessary to prevent terrorism, even if it means basic civil liberties are violated, 31 percent of New York City voters say. But 65 percent of voters say anti-terrorism measures should stop short of violating their rights. Civil liberties take a back seat to safety, Republicans say 61 - 38 percent. Counter- terrorism must stop short of violating rights, Democrats say 69 - 28 percent and independent voters say 65 - 29 percent. "The city's true-blue liberalism extends to dealing with terrorists. By better than 2-1, New Yorkers think it's more important to protect civil liberties than to take all possible steps against terrorism," Carroll said. "Only Republicans feel the other way." From May 17 - 19, Quinnipiac University surveyed 797 New York City registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and nationwide as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ray Kelly is handling his job as Police Commissioner? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 70% 85% 68% 69% 77% 68% 62% Disapprove 17 11 19 16 10 23 25 DK/NA 13 4 13 15 14 9 13 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 75% 73% 63% 70% 69% 72% 68% Disapprove 14 15 19 17 27 15 19 DK/NA 11 12 19 13 4 13 13 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ray Kelly is handling his job as Police Commissioner? (*High also 70% Feb 2010, Mar 2006 & Feb 2006) APPROVE....... DIS.. High Low High May 24 Feb 18 Jul 28 Jun 17 May 24 Jan 16 Jan 16 2010 2010 2009 2009 2010* 2007 2007 Approve 70 70 67 63 70 52 52 Disapprove 17 16 20 22 17 34 34 DK/NA 13 14 13 14 13 14 14 25. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling terrorism? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 71% 79% 74% 68% 82% 64% 62% Disapprove 18 17 18 17 12 26 26 DK/NA 10 4 8 15 6 10 12 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 72% 71% 76% 67% 76% 73% 70% Disapprove 17 18 17 20 23 17 20 DK/NA 11 11 8 13 1 10 10 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling terrorism? (*is handling the threat of terrorism?) May 24 Feb 3 Jul 20 Feb 28 2010 2006 2005 2003* Approve 71 70 62 60 Disapprove 18 17 23 27 DK/NA 10 13 15 13 26. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling terrorism? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 65% 24% 82% 55% 52% 83% 73% Disapprove 29 72 15 39 43 13 21 DK/NA 5 4 4 6 5 4 6 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 67% 61% 73% 67% 47% 64% 66% Disapprove 26 34 22 27 51 31 28 DK/NA 7 4 5 6 2 5 6 27. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the New York City police are handling terrorism? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 85% 94% 85% 84% 90% 90% 74% Disapprove 11 5 11 12 6 9 20 DK/NA 4 1 4 4 4 1 6 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 85% 88% 85% 80% 88% 88% 83% Disapprove 11 8 11 14 11 8 13 DK/NA 4 4 4 6 1 4 4 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the New York City police are handling terrorism? May 24 Feb 3 2010 2006 Approve 85 75 Disapprove 11 17 DK/NA 4 8 28. How worried are you about another terrorist attack in New York City - very worried, somewhat worried, not too worried or not worried at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Very worried 35% 48% 29% 39% 38% 29% 44% Smwht worried 34 36 37 30 36 28 31 Not too worried 20 10 23 20 17 23 21 Not worried at all 11 7 11 11 8 19 5 DK/NA - - - 1 - - - Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Very worried 40% 37% 30% 33% 40% 30% 39% Smwht worried 28 36 32 35 34 31 36 Not too worried 21 17 24 18 23 23 18 Not worried at all 10 10 12 14 3 15 8 DK/NA 1 - 1 - - - - TREND: How worried are you about another terrorist attack in New York City - very worried, somewhat worried, not too worried or not worried at all? (*asked 3/18/03 & 3/19/03 before bombing of Baghdad) (**asked 3/22/03 & 3/23/03 after bombing had begun) May 24 Feb 3 Apr 10 Mar 25 Mar 25 2010 2006 2003 2003** 2003* Very worried 35 23 29 33 42 Smwht worried 34 40 37 34 33 Not too worried 20 22 21 16 16 Not worried at all 11 14 13 15 8 DK/NA - 1 1 1 1 29. Do you think New York City is adequately prepared to deal with another terrorist attack, or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Yes 49% 43% 53% 45% 52% 50% 41% No 45 51 40 51 40 46 54 DK/NA 6 7 6 4 8 4 5 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Yes 47% 52% 52% 47% 38% 56% 44% No 49 40 42 48 58 40 49 DK/NA 4 7 6 5 4 4 7 TREND: Do you think New York City is adequately prepared to deal with another terrorist attack, or not? (*asked 3/18/03 & 3/19/03 before bombing of Baghdad) (**asked 3/22/03 & 3/23/03 after bombing had begun) May 24 Feb 3 Jul 20 Apr 10 Mar 25 Mar 25 Feb 28 2010 2006 2005 2003 2003** 2003* 2003 Yes 49 32 41 44 46 37 35 No 45 59 50 47 46 53 56 DK/NA 6 9 10 9 7 10 8 30. As a result of the attempted car bombing in Times Square, have you or members of your family gone about day-to-day life as usual or have you made some changes? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Life as usual 86% 89% 85% 87% 92% 80% 78% Made some changes 14 10 15 12 7 19 21 DK/NA - 1 - 1 - - 1 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Life as usual 76% 86% 90% 87% 88% 90% 83% Made some changes 23 14 10 12 10 10 17 DK/NA 1 - - 1 2 1 - 31. Which comes closer to your view - (A) the government should take all steps necessary to prevent additional acts of terrorism in the United States even if it means your basic civil liberties would be violated; or (B) the government should take steps to prevent additional acts of terrorism but not if those would violate your basic civil liberties? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp (A) All steps 31% 61% 28% 29% 37% 32% 21% (B) Shldn't violate civil liberties 65 38 69 65 60 63 73 DK/NA 4 1 3 5 3 5 6 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom (A) All steps 34% 36% 24% 30% 37% 28% 34% (B) Shldn't violate civil liberties 61 60 73 65 62 69 62 DK/NA 5 4 2 4 1 3 4 TREND: Which comes closer to your view - (A) the government should take all steps necessary to prevent additional acts of terrorism in the United States even if it means your basic civil liberties would be violated; or (B) the government should take steps to prevent additional acts of terrorism but not if those would violate your basic civil liberties? May 24 Apr 13 Feb 3 Aug 19 Jul 20 2010 2006 2006 2005 2005 (A) All steps 31 29 28 38 30 (B) Shldn't violate civil liberties 65 65 66 55 64 DK/NA 4 7 6 7 6
