The Words ``Moral Values'' Mean Very Different Things to the Public and to Pundits

Large Majority of Those Who Say Moral Values are Very Important in
Their Voting Choices are Thinking About the Characters of the
Candidates Not Their Positions on Controversial Issues
ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(Business Wire)--Political commentators and journalists often use the phrase "moral
values" to mean the issues of importance to some conservatives and
members of the "Christian Right", issues such as abortion, gay rights,
same-sex marriage and stem cell research. In fact, when the public
uses the phrase, only a few people are referring to these issues. Most
people who say that moral values are very important to them in
deciding how to vote (46% of all adults) say that what they mean are
the characters of the candidates - such as honesty, integrity,
trustworthiness and their likelihood of "doing the right thing".

These are some of the results of a new Harris Poll of 2,335 adults
surveyed online between December 4 and 12, 2007.

How Important Are "Moral Values"?

Using the phrase as the public understands it, moral values are
important to most people (85%) when deciding whom to vote for, and are
"very important" to fully 46 percent of the public.

Republicans (63%) are much more likely than Democrats (37%) or
Independents (38%) to believe that moral values are very important in
their choice of candidates - a finding that is consistent with the
common assumption that "values voters" tend to be an important part of
the Republican base. Unsurprisingly, Conservatives (64%) are also more
likely than Moderates (41%) or Liberals (33%) to believe moral values
are very important criteria for their voting decisions. These numbers
are virtually identical to the replies given in a Harris Poll
conducted soon after the 2004 Presidential election on the importance
of moral values then.

What Do People Mean and Understand When They Say Moral Values Are
Very Important?

Of all the people who say moral values are very important in
deciding how to vote, less than a third (30%) are referring to the
candidates' positions on issues, with by far the largest number (14%)
referring to abortion. In addition, they mention gay rights (3%), that
marriage is between a man and woman (3%) and gay marriage (3%). A few,
but only a very few, mention homosexuality (1%), and stem cell
research (1%).

The greatest majority (78%) of these voters mentions personal
characteristics of the candidates including their honesty (28%),
integrity (11%), ethical values (8%), and someone who does the right
thing (8%), is trustworthy (7%), truthful (6%) or keeps his/her word
(6%).

However it is not quite as clear cut as these numbers. Some, but
not many, of these "moral values voters" mention personal
characteristics associated with the Christian Right such as
"Christian/or believes in the Bible (6%), their religious views (5%),
belief in God or Christ (4%), or the 10 Commandments (2%). Overall,
however, it is very clear that when most people talk about the
importance of moral values they are not referring to the agenda of the
Christian Right.

What Issues Most Influence Voters Who Believe Moral Values Are
Very important?

As part of this poll those surveyed were asked which of a list of
12 issues are most important to them in deciding how to vote. Overall,
among all adults, the two so-called "moral values" issues in the list,
abortion and gay rights are by far the least important. Health care,
Social Security, economic issues, taxes, the war in Iraq, the war on
terror, immigration, education and the environment are all important
to many more voters.

That is not a surprise. What is surprising is that the replies
given to this question are broadly similar for those who think moral
values are very important and those who do not think this way. Among
those who believe moral values are very important only 13 percent
mention abortion and 6 percent mention gay rights - far behind almost
all the other issues.

So What?

These findings show that pollsters, journalists and commentators
must be very careful not to assume that voters who feel strongly about
"moral values" are primarily concerned with issues such as abortion,
homosexuality, gay marriage, stem cell research, gun control or any of
the other issues often associated with the Christian Right or the
Conservative base of the Republican party.

This will be particularly important in the final pre-election
polls and exit polls. In 2004 many commentators assumed wrongly that
voters who said moral values influenced their votes were referring to
these issues, and as a result some pundits greatly overestimated their
impact on the election.

-0-
*T
TABLE 1
HOW IMPORTANT ARE "MORAL VALUES" WHEN DECIDING HOW TO VOTE
"How important are moral values to you in deciding which candidate to
vote for?"
Base: All Adults
Political Party Political Philosophy
---------------------------------------
Total Rep. Dem. Ind. Cons. Mod. Lib.
----------------------------------------------
% % % % % % %
----------------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT (NET) 85 92 82 81 93 85 71
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Very Important 46 63 37 38 64 41 33
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhat important 39 29 45 43 29 44 38
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOT IMPORTANT (NET) 15 8 18 19 7 15 29
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not very important 10 6 12 14 6 10 17
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not at all important 5 2 6 6 2 4 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Percentages may not add to 100 percent due to rounding
*T

Note: These numbers are very similar to the replies given to a
Harris Poll question asked just after the 2004 presidential election:
"How important were moral values to you in deciding which candidate to
vote for" The replies were: Very important (45%), Somewhat important
(35%), Not very important (12%), Not at all important (8%).

-0-
*T
TABLE 2
WHAT PEOPLE MEAN BY MORAL VALUES (SUMMARY)
"What do you mean when you say that moral values are very important to
you?"
"Unprompted responses"
Base: Said Values Very Important
Mentioned %
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Candidates' personal characteristics 78 See Table 3 for details
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Candidates' position on issues 30 See Table 4 for details
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Other responses 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
None 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't know / Refused 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Percentages add to more than 100% because respondents could give
multiple responses
*T

-0-
*T
TABLE 3
WHAT PEOPLE MEAN BY MORAL VALUES - (1) PERSONAL
CHARACTERISTICS
"What do you mean when you say that moral values are very
important to you?"
"Unprompted responses"
Base: Said Values Very Important
%
-----------------------------------------------------------
Candidates' personal characteristics (NET) 78
-----------------------------------------------------------
Honesty 28
-----------------------------------------------------------
Integrity 11
-----------------------------------------------------------
Family values / Belief in the family 9
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ethical / Has character / Has good values 8
-----------------------------------------------------------
Someone who does the right thing / stands for
what's right 8
-----------------------------------------------------------
Trustworthy / dependable / reliable 7
-----------------------------------------------------------
Truthful 6
-----------------------------------------------------------
Christian / biblical values 6
-----------------------------------------------------------
Does what he says he will / keeps their word 6
-----------------------------------------------------------
Religious views (unspecified) 5
-----------------------------------------------------------
Faithful / Fidelity 4
-----------------------------------------------------------
Knowing the difference between right & wrong 4
-----------------------------------------------------------
Believe in God / Christ 4
-----------------------------------------------------------
Caring / Compassion / Kind 3
-----------------------------------------------------------
Character reflects actions 3
-----------------------------------------------------------
All moral values 2
-----------------------------------------------------------
Fair / decent / impartial 2
-----------------------------------------------------------
10 Commandments 2
-----------------------------------------------------------
Respect / Respects others 2
-----------------------------------------------------------
Will do what's best for the country 2
-----------------------------------------------------------
Be a Christian 2
-----------------------------------------------------------
Not a Clinton 2
-----------------------------------------------------------
Values of our founders 2
-----------------------------------------------------------
Note: Also mentioned by one percent: loyalty, golden rule,
my values, be kind to others, conservative, perseverance,
honor, justice and courage.
Twelve percent mentioned other personal characteristics,
but no one characteristic was mentioned by more than 0.5
percent.
Respondents could give multiple responses.
*T

-0-
*T
TABLE 4
WHAT PEOPLE MEAN BY MORAL VALUES - (2) CANDIDATES' POSITIONS ON ISSUES
"What do you mean when you say that moral values are very important to
you?"
"Unprompted responses"
Base: Said Values Very Important
%
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Candidates' position on issues (NET) 30
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Abortion stance 14
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gay rights 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriage is one man & one woman 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gay marriage 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No past scandals 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No conflicts of interest / Voting your heart not your wallet 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stance on immigration 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Equality / Equal rights 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stance on marriage 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stem cell research 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Homosexuality is wrong 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Adherence to Constitution 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Eleven percent mentioned candidates' positions on other issues,
but no single issue was mentioned by more than 0.5 percent.
Respondents could give multiple responses.
*T

-0-
*T
TABLE 5
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF 12 ISSUES - BY THOSE WHO THINK MORAL VALUES ARE
/ NOT VERY IMPORTANT
"Looking at the list of issues, which two or three are most important
to you in deciding which presidential candidate you would vote for?"
Base: All Adults
Moral Values Are
Total -----------------------------------
Very Important Not Very/ Not At All
-------------------------------------------
% % %
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Health care 42 42 47
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Social Security 32 33 28
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Economic Issues 30 24 32
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Taxes 27 29 22
----------------------------------------------------------------------
War in Iraq 25 26 24
----------------------------------------------------------------------
War on terror 25 31 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Immigration 24 29 17
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Education 18 16 17
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The environment 15 10 22
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Foreign Policy 15 12 20
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Abortion 8 13 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gay rights 6 6 6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
None of these 1 1 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not sure 5 4 7
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Questions such as this where respondents are shown or read a
list generate different answers than unprompted, open-ended questions
where no issues are mentioned.
Respondents gave 2 or 3 answers.
*T

Methodology

This Harris Poll(R) was conducted online within the United States
between December 4 and 14, 2007 among 2,335 adults (aged 18 and over).
Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household
income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with
their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting
was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability
sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most
often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error,
coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated
with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting
and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words
"margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated
are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities
for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These
are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this
ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who
have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data
have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population.
Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the
Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error
can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the
National Council on Public Polls.

-0-
*T
J32642
Q635, 640, 645
*T

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the largest and fastest-growing
market research firms in the world. The company provides innovative
research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more
confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements
in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris
Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for
pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what
it believes to be the world's largest panel of survey respondents, the
Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide
through its North American, European and Asian offices, and through a
global network of independent market research firms. More information
about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to
participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.

Harris Interactive Inc. 1/08

Harris Interactive
Tracey McNerney, 585-214-7756

Copyright Business Wire 2008