Guilt by association? 1 in 3 fear punishment

By Gideon Swift | Published: December 29, 2009

There’s a new “chill” that has nothing to do with claims of global warming or climate change and everything to do with the failing confidence Americans feel in their own freedoms, according to a new poll.

“More Americans this month felt that there was more of a climate of fear over their freedom of association – with more than one in three – 36 percent – saying that they believed Americans had reason to fear punishment or retribution based on who their friends were or who they met with. This is chilling stuff!” said Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies.

The WND/Wenzel telephone survey was conducted Dec. 18-21 using an automated telephone technology calling a random sampling of listed telephone numbers. The survey included 26 questions and carries a 95 percent confidence interval. It included 823 likely voters. It carries a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

His survey revealed that the WorldNetDaily Freedom Index took a huge plunge in December, dropping to its lowest ever mark of 46.4 on a 100-point scale. The assessment is based on respondents’ answers to a series of monthly questions about how they feel about a basketful of liberties they enjoy as Americans.

The survey’s initial result in June was 57.6, which fell to 53.2 in July. There followed a slight uptick with 54.2 in August and 56.4 in September, but October fell again, to 52.2 followed by a weak rally at 53.6 in November.

Wenzel described the issues undermining Americans’ confidence in their liberties as linked to Washington’s moves toward President Obama’s agenda.

“When it comes to health care reform, December has turned out to be a very good month for President Barack Obama,” he said. “But when it comes to public approval of his work, it has been a very bad month.”