CAMPAIGN ’88 : Poll Taps Security Issue

A third of the probable voters who responded to an opinion survey believe election of Dukakis would weaken national security, while 7% believe that Bush’s election would damage the nation’s security, results of the poll showed Monday.

The survey also indicated that 31% of the sampling believes Bush, as President, would improve national security, while 17% of the group believe Dukakis would do so.

The poll, conducted by the Daniel Yankelovich Group as part of Americans Talk Security, a continual analysis of public opinion on foreign policy and defense, showed the Republican Party holding a clear edge on most foreign policy issues.

When the voters were asked whether Bush or Dukakis would be more effective in dealing with 11 issues, Bush came out ahead on eight of them and Dukakis fared better on three.

Some of Bush’s perceived advantages: Maintaining a strong national defense, 65-23%; dealing with the Soviet Union, 61-22%; negotiating arms control agreements, 59-27%; dealing with international terrorism, 55-28%; dealing with the situation in Central America, 48-34%; handling military spending, 46-40%; solving conflicts in the Middle East, 44-26%, and keeping the nation out of war, 43-33%.

Dukakis held an edge on these topics: dealing with international drug trafficking, 41-37%; persuading allies to pay for more of their own defense, 40-35%; and eliminating waste and overspending in the military budget, 46-35%.

The survey polled 1,008 potential voters. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3%.