Monday, April 07, 2008

Poll: Rhode Islanders like the Mod Party concept

The Moderate Party's Ken Block just e-mailed with some poll findings:

The people of Rhode Island are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the performance of the General Assembly and both major political parties in solving the state’s problems, and nearly 75 percent would support a new party that promised to do things differently.Those are the key findings of a telephone poll conducted among 400 registered Rhode Island voters recently by Alpha Research.

The poll was commissioned by Kenneth Block, a Warwick business owner and Barrington resident.

“I’ve been concerned for several years about the effects of fiscal mismanagement and corruption on the state’s economy,” said Block. “I had to find out if I was alone or if others believed the state was entering a death spiral and had to change its ways.

“This scientific poll shows beyond a doubt that well more than a majority of Rhode Islanders are fed up with the performance of their government and ready to elect different leaders.”

Some of the major results:

• 91% of respondents felt that things in Rhode Island have gotten seriously off on the wrong track.

• 75% felt that the Democratic Party was doing a fair or poor job helping to solve the state’s problems.

• 80% felt that the Republican Party was doing a fair or poor job helping to solve the state’s problems.

• 82% felt that the General Assembly was doing a fair or poor job helping to solve the state’s problems.

• 78% felt that neither major political party represented their views on the way state government should be run.

• 74% said they would be supportive if a new political party was created that was moderate in its political thinking and not beholden to the state's labor unions and special interest of the left or in lock step support of Republicans on the right.

Since receiving the poll results, Block has met with political activists in all parts of the state to drum up support for setting up a new party and recruiting candidates for General Assembly seats in this year’s election.

“For the many Rhode Islanders who know we need new leadership but believe there’s no point in fighting the entrenched powers, this poll shows that the opposite is true,” said Block. “Put yourselves out there with a message of real reform, and you’ll get elected -- because the majority of Rhode Island voters are ready to make the change! By providing competition for legislative seats that have gone uncontested, and by providing voters the option of a centrist candidate, we should be able to influence current lawmaking because our legislators will know that they will be held accountable for their actions in the election booth.”

More information about the Moderate Party of Rhode Island, issues that we support and how to get involved can be found on our website at (http://www.moderate-ri.org). Party representatives will be at the Operation Clean Government candidate school on Saturday April 12.