McCain’s Supporters Distrust Him on Climate Change

How strong is the partisan divide on perceptions of global warming? The tendency for Republicans to doubt the reality of climate change means that they are even distrustful of John McCain’s advocacy for action on the problem.

From a news release for a survey just released by Anthony Leiserowitz of Yale University and Edward Maibach of George Mason University:

In the race to earn undecided voters’ trust on the issue of global warming, the two candidates are in a dead heat. Fifty percent of undecided voters trust John McCain as a source of information about global warming and 51 percent trust Barack Obama. “In the closing days of this election, each of these candidates still has an opportunity to make their best case on global warming to these critical voters,” said Edward Maibach of George Mason University.

Surprisingly, however, 45 percent of McCain voters and 64 percent of those who are leaning toward McCain distrust their own preferred candidate as a source of information about global warming. By contrast, only 15 percent of Obama voters and 36 percent of those who are leaning toward Obama distrust their preferred candidate on the issue.