Earlier today I wrote about Campaigning for the Constitution. In discussing the importance of the Constitution and rule of law in the 2008 election, I observed that the campaign narrative excludes these vital subjects.
This is, in my humble opinion, one of the issues that is on most Americans' minds, even if they are never polled about it and there is no major treatment of the Constitution as a focal issue in the media and in the presidential debates. [emphasis added]
While this is generally true, an emailer brought my attention to a poll commissioned by the ACLU recently on civil liberties and expectations for the next President to restore the Constitution. The results of the poll were overwhelming:
* End torture: "make it clear that the policy of the United States is to oppose torture and follow the Geneva Conventions" (Democrats 80 percent, Independents 87 percent, Republicans 74 percent);
* Define "enemy combatant": "work with Congress to establish a legal definition of 'enemy combatant' rather than leaving it up to each president to decide" (Democrats 80 percent, Independents 70 percent, Republicans 69 percent);
* Restore habeas corpus: "restore habeas corpus rights for people held at Guantánamo" (Democrats 80 percent, Independents 77 percent, Republicans 54 percent);
* End warrantless wiretapping: "require the government to get a court warrant to listen to the telephone calls of people in the U.S." (Democrats 65 percent, Independents 59 percent, Republicans 50 percent); and
* Close Guantánamo: "close the prison at Guantánamo and schedule trials in the U.S. courts for the terrorist suspects currently held there" (Democrats 69 percent, Independents 61 percent, Republicans 43 percent).
The results are clear -- an overwhelming majority of Americans want to see the rule of law and civil liberties upheld and the Constitution restored, regardless of their political affiliations. The agree extends to many subjects and, with the exception of closing Guantanamo, all the major areas polled received a majority of support from Republicans.
This polling bears out the argument I was making in the previous post, namely that the Constitution and rule of law are a major issue that voters care about in this election. Obviously I've spent most of my time in the early primary states and that impacts my experience. To whit, the ACLU poll shows "A large majority (85%) of likely Democratic presidential primary voters in New Hampshire says they would "like the next president to do more to protect civil liberties while fighting terrorism."" The number is even higher among Iowa Democrats (92%). But that's not to say that the same isn't true nationally -- 59% of all likely presidential voters agree that the next President has to do more to protect civil liberties, and this number includes Republican and independent voters.
Americans get the elemental importance of upholding the Constitution and are making their demand for a President who will do just that, as the oath of office dictates. Chris Dodd is the only candidate who has made restoring the Constitution and America's moral standing in the world a fundamental part of his campaign. He stands with the overwhelming majority of Americans in his commitment to the rule of law. Will you stand with Dodd?
For the full ACLU polling information, check out this links (Warning: all are links to PDF documents).
> National Voters Poll
> Iowa Voters Poll
> New Hampshire Voters Poll
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