CPAs Split on Kerry, Bush
The tax, accounting, and finance community seems as polarized by the Presidential race as America at large.
by Rick Telberg
At Large for the AICPA
An analysis of our polling data reveals extreme and possibly unprecedented levels of polarization among CPAs considering the Kerry v. Bush presidential race.
After an earlier showing in which Bush outpolled Kerry among CPAs by a 2-to-1 margin, the gap has now narrowed to a dead heat, with neither candidate able to claim a clear advantage among the more than 1,700 tax, accounting and finance professionals who volunteered for the study.
But digging deeper into the data uncovers some clear differences in the priorities of the supporters of each candidate.
Bush backers, for instance, rate controlling federal spending as their top issue. Kerry supporters want most to reduce the deficit. The poll did not consider issues such as Iraq and foreign policy or most domestic social issues, concentrating instead on financial and economic matters.
'No mention of non-financial considerations?' noted CPA David Dichner, of Zivetz, Schwartz & Saltsman, in Los Angeles, and a Kerry supporter. 'Money helps,' he said, but it's not as much a consideration 'in a world rife with short-term thinking when setting long-term policies, needless war, greed-driven policies, abysmal treatment of our mentally ill and homeless, underfunded education initiatives, and a tax cut that favors mostly my two eight-figure clients.'
'The most important issues to me and my family are the family values of pro life, traditional marriage, and religious freedom,' said Bush supporter Pamela Disheroon, a CPA in Alpena, Ark.
Among Bush supporters, here are the top five priorities, and the percent of supporters who cited it as one of their top issues:
1. Control spending, 66%
2. Reduce the federal deficit, 52%
3. Stimulate the economy, 39%
4. Simplify the tax code, 30%
5. Fix health insurance, 35%
Among Kerry supporters, the top five are:
1. Reduce the federal deficit, 83%
2. Fix health insurance, 69%
3. Assure Social Security, 56%
4. Create jobs, 56%
5. Close tax-shelter loopholes, 52%
To be sure, the voters' priorities for their chosen candidates do not necessarily reflect the candidates' stated positions.
Clearly, accounting professionals at this stage of the campaign are basing their decisions on perceptions of character and ideological or partisan affiliation. Which is, of course, where much of the rest of the United States electorate stands now.
