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Poll: Republicans See Iran Deal As Deciding Factor In 2016

Committing to tear up the Iran nuclear deal on day one of a new administration is one of the deciding factors in what Republican primary voters are said to examine before deciding whom to vote for, a new Pew Research poll, released on Friday, showed.

According to the poll, 69% of Republican primary voters say they would be more likely to support a candidate who wants to end the nuclear agreement. Only 14 percent don’t consider it a factor, while 14% say they would be less likely to support a candidate who takes this position.

Conservative Republican voters are more likely (74%) than moderates and liberals (56%) to vote for a candidate who wants to walk back from the deal.

To date, after Scott Walker’s exit, Cruz and Rubio remain the only top-tier candidates to pledge to rip up the deal on day one. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has called for a more moderate approach in the day after the international accord would be implemented. “It’s not a strategy to tear up an agreement,” Bush said during the 2nd Republican televised debate on September 16. “A strategy would be how do we confront Iran?” Senator Rand Paul called it “absurd” to suggest “we cut up the agreement immediately.”

Ohio Governor John Kasich further suggested that candidates are simply playing to the crowd by vowing to walk unilaterally away from the deal after its implementation. “I’ve seen lots of issues in foreign affairs, and foreign — in terms of global politics, you have to be steady. We are stronger when we work with the Western civilization, our friends in Europe, and just doing it on our own I don’t think is the right policy,” Kasich asserted during the 2nd Republican televised debate. At the same time, he promised to “rip up the deal” if Iran is caught cheating. “

Trump, the Republican frontrunner, has already announced that he plans to enforce the deal.

Across the aisle, some 41% of Democratic primary voters said they would be more likely to support a candidate who backs the Iran nuclear agreement, while 27% would be less likely to back a candidate who is ready to enforce the deal, according to the poll. Among moderate Democrats, 37% would be less likely than more likely to support a candidate who supports the Iran nuclear agreement.

All of the Democratic candidates, with the exception of Jim Webb, support the deal.

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