A majority of Americans support a reduction in U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, according to the results of a Gallup poll released Monday, although support is down from years past.
The poll showed that 56 percent of Americans would vote for a law that would reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, while 38 percent said they would vote against such a law.
Support for reducing U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals was strongest among Democrats at 63 percent and weakest among Republicans at 47 percent. Fifty-seven percent of Independents support a reduction.
While the level of support is similar to a poll conducted in December of 2010, Gallup noted that it has found much greater support for nuclear arms reduction agreements in the past,
Gallup said it typically found support above 70 percent in a variety of question formats asking about proposed or agreed-upon nuclear deals.
The results came from a survey asking Americans how they would vote on a number of potential issues, most of which President Barack Obama raised in his recent State of the Union address, including U.S.-Russian nuclear reductions.
“Obama has many other issues to address in his second term, so it is not clear how high a priority he would make a new arms deal,” said Gallup Poll Managing Editor Jeffrey Jones. “But he has argued that reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal would save the country billions in the cost to maintain those weapons.”
He added, “And while cutting government spending is a clear priority for Obama and most government leaders, his ability to reach an agreement may depend on the relative benefits of potential savings compared with the potential risks to U.S. security.”
The survey of 1,028 adults was conducted March 2nd and 3rd and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
by RTT Staff Writer
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