"Poll: Kerry Beats Bush in Addressing Disability Issues"

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"Poll: Kerry Beats Bush in Addressing Disability Issues"

A Press Release from the National Organization on
Disability, http://www.nod.org:

Contact: Brewster Thackeray
[e-mail]
202/955-6327

KERRY ADDRESSING DISABILITY ISSUES BETTER THAN BUSH,
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION ON DISABILITY/HARRIS SURVEY FINDS

WASHINGTON, DC, October 8, 2004 - Asked which presidential
candidate they believe is addressing the needs of people
with disabilities as part of their campaign, 39 percent of
all respondents to a recent Harris Poll survey commissioned
by the National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.) gave
Senator John F. Kerry credit, compared to 22 percent for
President George W. Bush. Ralph Nader was selected by five
percent. The survey, part of N.O.D.s ongoing effort to
document and track the political concerns of Americans with
disabilities, was funded by a grant from Carnegie
Corporation of New York.

Among people with disabilities, Kerry was seen as
addressing disability issues by 40 percent of respondents,
compared to 23 for Bush. Those without disabilities cited
Kerry 38 percent of the time and Bush 22. Five percent of
both cited Nader.

When it came to specific issues that Harris has identified
from prior polling as being of importance to people with
disabilities, Bush had an edge among all voters on homeland
security (55-33%) and technology (39-37%).

The advantage was Kerrys on education (46-42%), Medicare
drug benefits (49-36%), employment (51-36%), health care
(49-36%), civil rights (47-33%), transportation (39-33%),
and housing (46-32%). People with and without disabilities
responded similarly to these questions, within a margin of
error.

Even in these last weeks of the campaign, I urge all
candidates to speak out on disability issues and matters
that are important to the one-fifth of the population that
have disabilities, said N.O.D. President Alan A. Reich.
While not every American has a disability, everybody has
friends and relatives that do. Outreach to the disability
community is a smart move for any politician or candidate.

Methodology: The Harris Poll. was conducted by telephone
within the United States between September 9 and 13, 2004
among a nationwide cross section of 398 adults (aged 18 and
over) with disabilities (323 of whom are likely voters) and
828 adults (aged 18 and over) without disabilities (714 of
whom are likely voters). For both samples figures for age,
sex, race, education, and region were weighted where
necessary to align them with their actual proportions in
each population. For the sample of people with
disabilities, these respondents were also weighted by type
of disability and for the people without disabilities that
sample of respondents was also weighted by the number of
adults and number of voice/telephone lines in the household
where necessary.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can
say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a
sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points for
the total sample of U.S. adults without disabilities who
are likely voters (and plus or minus 5.5 percentage points
for the smaller sample of U.S. adults with disabilities who
are likely voters). Unfortunately, there are several other
possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are
probably more serious than theoretical calculations of
sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed
(nonresponse), question wording and question order,
interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and
screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to
quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

The National Organization on Disability, founded in 1982,
promotes the full and equal participation and contribution
of Americas 54 million men, women and children with
disabilities in all aspects of life. N.O.D. is a
nonpartisan organization. For more information visit
www.nod.org <http://www.nod.org/>.

Harris Interactive (www.harrisinteractive.com
<http://www.harrisinteractive.com>) is a global research
firm that blends premier strategic consulting with
innovative and efficient methods of investigation, analysis
and application. Well known for The Harris Poll. and for
pioneering Internet-based research methods, Rochester, New
York-based Harris Interactive conducts proprietary and
public research to help its clients around the world
achieve clear, material and enduring results.

# # #

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