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OBA poll finds 75% of voters against economic policies of the past five years

For every ten voters, seven say Bermuda is on the wrong track, a One Bermuda Alliance poll shows.And 75 percent of voters say the country should not continue the economic policies of the last five years.The economy outstrips all other concerns as the top issue that voters want addressed, and that includes gang violence which beats it by a margin of more than four to one.Polling numbers that say that Bermuda is headed in the right direction came in at 20 percent, while ten percent of respondents said they didn’t know if the Island was heading in the right direction or was on the wrong track.The poll was conducted by The Benenson Strategy Group, the same pollsters who have conducted research for President Barack Obama.They interviewed 400 people between November 20 and 23, according to yesterday’s OBA release of the new statistics.Gang warfare, crime and youth unemployment were tightly grouped in terms of the percentage of voters who say that one of the three issues is the most important for the next Government to address.After the economy, which came in at 46 percent, gang warfare topped the list for ten percent of voters, while crime came in at eight percent and youth unemployment at seven percent.The Benenson Strategy Group’s comments on the poll results stated: “The results of our recent 2012 general election polling show the One Bermuda Alliance Party in a strong position ahead of next month’s (sic) elections.“Economic concerns are the dominant issue for voters — 46 percent cite the economy as the most important issue for their next government to address — and 70 percent say the country is on the wrong track.“In addition, 75 percent of voters say the country should not continue the economic policies of the last five years.“These data points indicate there is a strong case to make ... that the country needs to make a change in leadership and a change in economic policies.”An OBA statement along with the release of the figures, said that the findings show that “economy, gang warfare, crime and youth unemployment are the dominant issues in the minds of voters,” and pointed to job layoffs and the shooting in Pembroke on Saturday to “ ... underscore the seriousness of the current problems we all face.”It went on: “Each week tells us Bermuda needs change, not more of the same; and these findings clearly reflect that.“The One Bermuda Alliance will continue to focus its efforts on addressing the real problems facing Bermudians today so together we can restore the security and prosperity Bermuda families need.”As well as US President Barack Obama, the Benenson Strategy Group have also worked for Democrat Senator Tim Kaine, who won the US November elections in the battle ground state of Virginia.Last night a Progressive Labour Party spokesman said of the poll: “It seems that the OBA has spent thousands to bring in yet another consultant to tell them how to relate to Bermudians.“We hope that this consultant gave them better advice than the authors of the secret plan who told them to use ‘black surrogates’ and who insulted Bermudians by calling some of us ‘downscale’ and ‘less educated’.“It is important to note that this poll was taken well before the UBP/OBA’s secret re-branding plan was revealed and their current leadership was caught in an attempted cover up.”Useful website: Benenson Strategy Group at www.bsgcp.com.