Poll shows voters shifting on foreign policy

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. foreign policy since the September 11 attacks has created fundamental shifts in voters' views on international affairs that presidential candidates have yet to address, a pollster said on Wednesday.

Bill McInturff, who describes himself as a Republican pollster, teamed up with Democrat colleague Geoff Garin to conduct a new poll on U.S. voter attitudes to foreign policy ahead of the November 4, 2008 presidential election.

The poll published this month found 78 percent of voters believe America is less respected by other countries than in the past -- a finding McInturff linked to the Iraq war.

"There's broad consensus that America is less respected in the world and people think this is a major problem," he said.

The poll of 800 likely voters was commissioned by the U.N. Foundation, a group founded by billionaire Ted Turner to promote U.N. causes.

Excluding Iraq, terrorism was the top foreign issue for Republican primary voters and swing voters, while Democrats' top priority was improving U.S. relationships with other countries -- an issue that ranked third with swing voters.

The only issue common to all three categories was America's dependence on foreign oil -- a concern that McInturff said barely ranked in similar polls two or three years ago.

Republicans ranked hostile nations such as Iran and North Korea as their number two concern in foreign policy, while Democrats' second place issue was the environment.