(Host) According to the preliminary results of Senator Bill Doyle’s Town Meeting Day questionnaire, Vermonters appear to be split over a plan to raise the gas tax. And in this survey, a majority of people don’t think that Governor Howard Dean would make a very good presidential candidate. The results represent about one-third of the 15,000 surveys that Doyle expects to tabulate in the next two weeks.
While two-thirds of those surveyed support increasing the cigarette tax by 67 cents a pack, respondents are deadlocked on the question of raising the gas tax by five cents a gallon to help pay for local transportation projects:
(Doyle) "Well 20% of the people in Vermont smoke…and I think 95 % buy gas…. On the written comments, many have the impression that this money would go to the state and not be returned to the towns. That was the concern."
(Host) The survey also asked the question "Do you feel Howard Dean would make a good presidential candidate ?" While 29% said ‘yes,’ 62% said ‘no’:
(Doyle) "It’s an accumulation of issues Act 60, civil unions, a whole series of issues. Tough calls where the governor has had to take a position on the issue and any governor, I would submit, after ten years is going to become increasingly unpopular."
(Host) The results of the survey also show that just 29% of those responding think the Legislature is doing a good job. Forty percent said it was not while 31 % were undecided. This represents a 16 % drop in the Legislature’s approval rating in just two years.
Doyle’s questionnaire is an unscientific survey available to voters on Town Meeting Day.