BRIEFS: New poll highlight’s S.C.’s pre-election mood, more

By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent  |  A slight majority of respondents think the country is headed in the wrong direction, but that South Carolina is on the right track, according to a Winthrop Poll released this week.

A poll of S.C. residents (not likely voters, there’s a difference) by Winthrop University found the most important problems facing the country are immigration, followed by racism, and politicians or government. Those surveyed said the most important issues facing the Palmetto State were, issues that keep cropping up: education, infrastructure, and jobs or unemployment.

While the poll did not select for likely voters, it did ask respondents whether they approved of S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster. Respondents have increased their favorability rating for the incumbent Republican to 51 percent. McMaster is facing Democratic nominee S.C. Rep. James Smith in the Nov. 6 election.

As of end of October, Smith was still lagging behind McMaster in public and private polls, according to The Post and Courier. In a reliably red state, Smith has also had trouble getting name recognition among voters, according to media reports.

State lawmakers, like Smith, received a 46 percent approval rating from respondents.

Here are other findings from the October poll:

• #MeToo: Nearly half of poll respondents strongly disagreed that women who claim to be sexually harassed cause more problems than they solve, and nearly two out of three respondents strongly disagreed that sexual harassment in the workplace is no longer a problem in the United States. While nearly three-fourths strongly or somewhat agreed that most women who come forward about sexual harassment are telling the truth, nearly 80 percent said that innocent men have to be extra careful to be not accused of sexual harassment.
• Economy: About three-fourths of South Carolina respondents said the country’s economy is very good or fairly good, while the same number of respondents think the condition of the state’s economy is either very or fairly good. A large majority described their own financial situation as good or excellent and getting better.
• Climate change: Nearly half of respondents said climate change is happening and the cause is equally shared by humans and nature. About 30 percent said humans were the primary cause.
• Congress: 69 percent of respondents disapproved of Congress, but U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, received favorable ratings from Republican-leaning respondents.
• Kavanaugh: Half of respondents said they approve of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination and confirmation. The poll found that Kavanaugh supporters were less likely to agree that most women who report harassment are telling the truth, and more likely to agree that men must be careful to avoid false accusations.
• Trump: While President Donald Trump has a 44 percent approval rating in the Palmetto State, 83 percent of Republicans approve of the president.

In other news this week:

Mapping race block-by-block. Are you living in a gentrified area that was previously a black or Hispanic neighborhood? A new map through National Geographic allows you to see race in America, block-by-block, and also the previous racial history of that place. Click here to see.

Jail-to-work program. Our main story this week is about pretrial issues, but what about after jail-time? In an effort to prevent recidivism, Greenville Technical College is partnering with Greenville Detention Center on a workforce development program. The program allows inmates to earn job-specific certifications. Learn more here.

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