Hot Air reader survey: Let the shutdown continue -- but don't declare emergency for border wall

What do Hot Air readers think about the current standoff over the border wall and immigration? We received over 500 responses to our non-scientific¹ Hot Air reader survey on these issues over 24 hours. The poll has now closed, but it produced some interesting — and nuanced — results.

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When it comes to the core policy at the heart of the dispute, respondents stand foursquare behind the president. Sixty-nine percent “strongly support” a border wall, with another 11% who “somewhat support” it. When limited to the four border states, those numbers go up slightly to 74% and 11% respectively. On support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the responses were more mixed (click on charts to expand):

Combining support and opposition, 32% have some support for DACA while 53% oppose it — 25% strongly so. There’s enough soft support and soft opposition to make Trump’s declared deal a winner among respondents, who overwhelmingly see it as positive. A near-majority considers it fair to both Republicans and Democrats:

Despite some complaints from activists, an overwhelming majority of Hot Air respondents (74%) do not see this offer as “amnesty.” If Democrats don’t take the deal, an even greater majority (80%) want Trump to continue the shutdown. Seventy-four percent still consider the border wall worth the interruption in government operations. However, the question of declaring an emergency to redirect Pentagon funds to the wall winds up with a narrow majority opposing the idea:

That evens up at 50/50 among respondents in border states, by the way, a measure of their stronger interest in the border wall. And who do Hot Air readers blame for the shutdown overall? That question gets a very mixed response:

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Trump trails Pelosi in blame by only three points, but Democrats in general end up leading all others by at least ten points or more. Twenty percent blame both political parties, while only eight percent blame Trump and Pelosi together. Among border-state respondents, Trump actually gets slightly more blame than Pelosi, but it’s close either way, and Democrats generally get much more blame in both sets.

What does this tell us? Hot Air’s respondents are highly engaged, very much in support of the border wall, and willing to trade to get government back in operation. They are largely behind Trump on this issue, even if it means a longer shutdown. He may very well need that support if the legislation coming goes nowhere. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Note 1: Poll results come from a self-selected group of Hot Air readers who took the time to respond to the 17-item Survey Monkey questionnaire. It is not based on a random sample, nor was any weighting applied to the results.

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