As a three-week deadline looms, 55% of voters believe that doing whatever it takes to avoid another shutdown should be the top priority of budget negotiators. A ScottRasmussen.com national survey found that 45 percent take the opposite view and believe that providing additional funding for border security is more important.
Not surprisingly, there are significant partisan differences on this question. Fifty-nine percent (59 percent) of Republicans believe funding for border security is more important. Sixty-four percent (64 percent) of Democrats and 57 percent of independents take the opposite view.
Underlying this partisan divide is the fact that Republican voters see illegal immigration as the top national security threat facing the nation today. Democratic voters dismiss that concern. Among all voters, 30% see terrorism as the top threat and 21 percent say illegal immigration.
Seventy-three percent (73 percent) of voters approve of the recent deal that ended the shutdown. But they’re not very optimistic about the next round. Only 42% think it's likely that a new agreement can be reached in time to avoid another shutdown.
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.
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