Dowling College Survey Predicts New York’s February 5th Primary Winners

January 30, 2008

(Oakdale, N.Y.) The Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute (LIESP) at Dowling College, in its Roundtable Presidential Primary Preference survey, showed John McCain to be most popular with respondents, who also said health care was of most concern to them.

The survey was taken during LIESP’s January 25, 2008 Roundtable for Long Island’s Future at a scheduled debate among surrogates for the primary candidates in New York State’s February 5th primary. Questioned by Dowling professors, Dr. Don Beahm and Dr. Yanek Mieczkowski were Suffolk County Legislators Jon Cooper and Edward P.
Romaine speaking for Barack Obama and Rudolph Giuliani, respectively, Assemblyman Phil Boyle for John McCain, Counsel to Nassau County Executive William J. Cunningham, III for Hillary Clinton, and Commissioner of Jurors Michael O’Donohoe for Mitt Romney.

As to presidential preferences, LIESP Director Martin R. Cantor reported that 28% favored McCain, 16% to Giuliani, with Democrats evenly divided at 17% between Clinton, Obama and Undecided. “New York State is wide open for a very competitive primary election,” Cantor said, “signaling that Senator Clinton might not win her own state.”

The top seven concerns expressed most frequently in the survey were as follows:

health care 14.7%
quality and cost of education 12.2%
economy 11%
terrorism/national security 9.8%
taxes 7.4%
energy 6.1%
the Iraq War 6.1%
illegal immigration 6.1%

However, Cantor explained, “when the top five concerns are ranked by the level of importance to respondents, the economy and terrorism/national security each tied as most important followed by health care energy, and illegal immigration.”

Cantor concluded, “The closeness of candidate preferences, including Undecided, illustrates that voters are still not happy with the way the candidates are addressing the issues most important to them.”

About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education. www.dowling.edu

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