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Poll: Solyndra ‘not dinner table conversation’ yet
Recent polling finds that the controversy over Solyndra, the bankrupt solar energy firm that received Obama administration loan support, hasn’t become “dinner table conversation” in a key swing state despite a GOP-led campaign highlighting the White House's role in its financing.
The views of Ohio voters could provide some political solace to the White House, which is taking a daily beating from Republicans alleging the California firm’s bankruptcy this month shows the failure of federal green-jobs efforts.
“Thus far, Solyndra is still news junkie fodder and not dinner table conversation,” states a joint Sept. 26 memo from the GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies and Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3), a Democratic firm.
The pollsters caution, however, that perceptions are fluid. Solyndra announced its collapse at the end of August and filed for bankruptcy Sept. 6. The GOP campaign to highlight the bankruptcy has intensified and continued to draw press coverage since the Ohio survey was conducted, Sept. 7-11.
“Solyndra does pose a potential problem for future public investments in clean energy, since it further fuels general skepticism about government’s fiscal decisions. A prolonged drumbeat on this issue could reinforce the strong concerns that voters across the political spectrum hold toward government financial decision‐making,” the memo states. “However, it is far more likely to heighten voters’ concerns about government stimulus spending in general than it is to erode perceptions of the solar industry.”
But thus far, the pollsters argue that Solyndra’s collapse despite receiving a $535 million federal loan guarantee isn’t souring the public on green energy. The memo states:
We have seen nothing to indicate an impact on views of clean energy broadly, or solar specifically. In dozens of focus groups we have conducted this month across the country on a wide variety of subjects, when voters are asked where they would like new jobs in their state to come from, the first words out of their mouths are almost always the same – clean energy and related technology.
It also notes: “In focus groups in electorally important states that [Public Opinion Strategies] conducted after the Solyndra news story broke, voters consistently indicated that renewable energy companies are the types of businesses that they regard most positively and trust.”
The pollsters presented Ohio voters with two viewpoints and asked which one they agreed with: one claiming that the company’s collapse should not stop targeted public investment in companies that create clean-energy jobs, the other claiming that Solyndra’s demise shows that investing taxpayer dollars in so-called green jobs is a waste.
Sixty-two percent called for continued investment, compared to 31 percent who called the public investments a waste of money. There’s a partisan divide — 77 percent of Democrats want continued investment, compared to 60 percent of Independents and 49 percent of Republicans.
Tea Partyers are more skeptical though: just 36 percent of Tea Party Republicans backed continued federal investment, compared to 55 percent who argue it’s a waste of money.
In addition to the Ohio survey, FM3 conducted focus groups in California on behalf of the Sierra Club, finding that awareness of the Solyndra issue was higher there.
The memo states that male GOP swing voters in California voiced “strong faith” about the solar industry’s viability.
“These voters were quick to condemn the federal government for failing to do its due diligence in evaluating Solyndra’s business prospects, and for squandering taxpayer dollars on what they saw as a bad bet. But even the most hardened conservatives in that group strongly agreed that the solar industry is strong, growing, and worthy of future investment,” it states.
