US Nurses Choose Senator John Kerry for President: ANA Thanks Members for Taking Part in Online Presidential Vote

From February 2-13, members of ANA's Constituent Member Associations weighed in on the ANA Presidential Endorsement Process by voting online in ANA's "Virtual Voting Booth" for their first and second choice presidential candidates.

ANA member input is a key component of the ANA Presidential Endorsement Process, which also includes careful consideration and analysis of a variety of factors including candidate positions and past records on nursing and health care issues; candidate viability in the election; and the relationship the candidate, has with ANA members and staff. This deliberate, inclusive, and non partisan endorsement process is rooted in the 1985 House of Delegates'resolution directing ANA to engage presidential contenders of all parties in endorsement considerations.

The endorsement process in the summer of 2003, when ANA sent candidate questionnaires to President George Bush, General Wesley Clark, Governor Howard Dean, U.S. Senator John Edwards, U.S. Representative Dick Gephardt, U.S. Senator John Kerry, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, and Reverend Al Sharpton. In addition, each candidate was invited to participate in interviews with representatives of the ANA Political Action Committee (PAC) Board and ANA Government Affairs Staff.

ANA staff maintained regular contact with all of the campaigns, and through this outreach and interaction, ANA received completed candidate questionnaires from all of the contenders except President Bush and Reverend Sharpton, and conducted personal interviews with all candidates except President Bush, General Clark, and Reverend Sharpton.

To help members learn more about the candidates before voting, the candidates' questionnaire responses, as well as additional background information on their positions on issues relating to nursing and health care were made available on the ANA Government Affairs Web site, www.anapoliticalpower.org.

In the past, the member poll on presidential candidates was conducted through a coupon included in The American Nurse, ANA's every member magazine. With a response rate five times greater than we received in 2000, this year's online poll was a huge success. The results of the vote were conclusive: Senator John Kerry garnered the strongest support, receiving 46% of the vote; President Bush received 28%; Governor Dean, 10%; Senator Edwards, 8%; General Clark, 5% Congressman Kucinich, 2%; Reverend Sharpton, .005%; Senator Lieberman, .004% (Congressman Gephardt and Ambassador Moseley-Braun had withdrawn from the race prior to the voting, and Senator Lieberman withdrew shortly after the voting began).

To view the full poll results and learn more about ANA's endorsement decision, visit www.anapoliticalpower.org.