Floridians favor more open relations with Cuba, poll saysBy Jerome R. Stockfisch

Floridians favor more open relations with Cuba, poll saysBy Jerome R.
Stockfisch | Tribune Staff
Published: June 11, 2015 | Updated: June 11, 2015 at 05:16 PM

TAMPA — Floridians approve of moves by President Barack Obama to relax
trade policies with communist Cuba and support direct ferry or cruise
ship services between U.S. and Cuban ports, a new survey indicates.

The Obama administration announced in December that the U.S. would
resume ties with the nation roughly 90 miles from Florida's southern
coast. In April, Cuba was removed from a U.S. list of state sponsors of
terrorism, a major step toward normalizing relations.

Saint Leo University's Polling Institute found that 63 percent of
Floridians feel trade should be opened between the two nations — 43
percent saying it should come gradually on select goods and services, 20
percent favoring it quickly on most or all goods and services. Sixteen
percent felt existing trade restrictions should be left in place, and 9
percent said trade with Cuba is a bad idea and should be reversed.
Twelve percent did not know or weren't sure about the issue.

The pollsters also reported Thursday that 58 percent of state
respondents supported direct ferry or cruise ship service between the
countries — 23 percent strongly supporting it, and 35 percent somewhat
supporting it. Thirty percent somewhat or strongly opposed the idea, and
13 percent didn't know or weren't sure.

Floridians also supported Pope Francis' decision to meet with Cuban
leader Raul Castro, by a 60 percent to 30 percent margin, and backed the
pope's upcoming trip to the island nation by a 65 percent to 18 percent
margin.

Michael Anthony Novak, a professor of theology at Saint Leo, suggested
those numbers — particularly the margin supporting the pope's upcoming
travels — indicate respondents may feel strongly about the power of
papal activism in visits to troubled locations.

"It was one of the most striking features of John Paul II's papacy that
his presence helped Eastern Europe's transition from communism," Novak
said in a statement announcing the poll results. "Pope Francis in Cuba —
a Latin American pope in a Latin American country — could carry all the
spiritual weight that John Paul II did in his native Poland."

Pope Francis met with Raul Castro on May 10 at the Vatican. He is
scheduled to travel to Cuba in September en route to the United States.

The Florida poll mirrored an expanded national poll that showed 61
percent of Americans approving relaxed trade policies with Cuba, 60
percent approving of the pope's hosting Castro, and 65 percent approving
of his travel to Cuba.

In addition to capturing Floridians' attitudes, other issues raised in
Saint Leo's poll may reflect another characteristic — voter confusion.

The polling institute found that 68 percent of statewide residents
either strongly support or somewhat support using federal money to
expand the Medicaid government health program to cover more people in
Florida. Twenty-eight percent strongly opposed or somewhat opposed the idea.

However, 58 percent also said they strongly or somewhat support Gov.
Rick Scott's decision to sue the federal government over Medicaid
expansion, which Scott adamantly opposes.

"If 68 percent of the people, including a plurality of Republicans,
think Medicaid expansion is good, and then in the very next question
they say, 'Yes, Gov. Scott is right to sue,' then I think it shows how
complex the issue is," said Frank Orlando, political science instructor
at Saint Leo. "These issues are tough, and without the benefit of
studying the issues in depth, it is difficult for voters to
appropriately weigh trade-offs and then come to consistent positions on
the Medicaid expansion question."

Also of note was that on those hot-button issues of Cuba and Medicaid,
the governor and state Legislature have taken a stand opposite of the
sentiment expressed in the surveys. Lawmakers have prohibited spending
state money on Cuba, and the Legislature is meeting in special session
this month to create a state budget after a stalemate over Medicaid
expansion.

Yet state residents approve of the job Scott is doing by a 50 percent to
45 percent margin, and approve of the job the Legislature is doing by a
49 percent to 44 percent margin.

"Voters aren't informed enough about most of these issues to assign
blame or assign reward," Orlando said. "Unfortunately, and I wish I
didn't have to teach my undergraduate students this, but voters don't
spend a lot of time discovering who's at fault for these things, and
they may not understand how government functions."

In addition, he pointed to a Saint Leo poll released Wednesday that
indicated jobs and the economy, which have been on an upswing, are
Floridian's chief concerns, which could reflect well on lawmakers.

jstockfisch@tampatrib.com

Source: Floridians favor more open relations with Cuba, poll says |
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