WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) — Pennsylvania Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly support continued aid to Ukraine and membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to a new foreign policy-focused survey of battleground states a little more than two months before Election Day.

More than two-thirds (67%) of respondents in the critical Keystone State back U.S. efforts to provide humanitarian and military aid — including weapons, ammunition, training and intelligence — to Ukraine, which was attacked unprovoked by Russia more than two years ago, according to a survey by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation.

More Democrats than Republicans (78% to 57%, respectively) are in favor of using such aid to blunt Russian aggression. But Pennsylvania’s overall bipartisan support is on par with the national response at 67%, and it’s also the second-highest among battleground states, behind only Wisconsin’s 71%.

That pattern of bipartisan support — with Democrats more robust in their support for American engagement — played out across the survey, which asked almost 600 Pennsylvanians between July 19 and Aug. 2 several foreign policy questions that policymakers and the presidential tickets are being pressed on in the run up to Nov. 5.

While other polls suggest the economy, inflation, abortion and immigration are at the forefront of voters’ minds, the University of Maryland survey suggests a majority of Pennsylvanians and other swing state residents back America’s strong standing in the world and reject many isolationist arguments. The survey did not address the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

“Surveys have consistently shown that, while Americans don’t want the U.S. to be the world policeman, they do want the U.S. to work with other countries to uphold the international order and help protect nations from aggressors,” Steven Kull, director of the Program for Public Consultation, said in a statement Wednesday.

Eighty percent of Pennsylvanians support the U.S. remaining in NATO, including 85% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans. NATO’s Article 5 requires members to regard an attack on any member as an attack on all.

The survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6%, tasked respondents with undertaking an online “policymaking situation” including briefings and arguments for or against each policy, with experts on different sides ensuring accuracy and balance, according to program leaders.

Republican support for Ukraine has wavered in recent months, particularly among far right members of the House of Representatives.

And Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has long bashed NATO members for funding their own national defense at far lower levels than the U.S. In February, he told a crowd at a South Carolina rally that he’d encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO members who don’t “pay your bills.”

The former president — who has sparked concerns among intelligence officials and experts for his frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other autocrats — repeated such complaints Monday during a speech at the National Guard Association in Detroit.

“I’ll insist that every NATO nation must spend at least 3%,” he said. “You have to go up to 3% — 2% is the steal of the century, especially as we’re paying for it. You know, we pay for them. It’s just not even believable. For most NATO countries, this will represent a defense budget increase of about 30%.”

Trump has claimed he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in a day, and said during his July debate with Mr. Biden that, “If we had a real president, a president that knew — that was respected by Putin ... he never would have invaded Ukraine.”

Democrats at their national convention in Chicago last week emphatically embraced continued support for Ukraine and other European allies, and credited President Joe Biden’s administration for helping Kyiv hold Russia at bay.

“I will make sure ... that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership,” said Vice President Kamala Harris in her speech accepting the presidential nomination. “Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO. He encouraged Putin to invade our allies.”

Ms. Harris said she met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to warn him of Russia’s plans to invade just five days before the attack in February 2022.

“I helped mobilize a global response — over 50 countries — to defend against Putin’s aggression,” she said. “And as president, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.”

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, who has met with Mr. Zelensky, accused Republicans of being “cowards” earlier this year for not standing up to Trump when the former president urged members of Congress not to support a bipartisan border security bill in the Senate that also included funding for Ukraine and Israel.

“The people of Ukraine are under attack — but they continue to stand bravely strong,” he said in April, photographed holding the Ukrainian flag, in a post on X. “Gisele and I stand with them over here in Pennsylvania.”

Last October, Mr. Fetterman and Sen. Bob Casey pressed congressional leaders for quick legislation “guaranteeing Ukraine has the critical resources necessary to continue defending themselves against Putin’s illegal war.” In February, to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Mr. Casey posted on X that the “Ukrainian people have shown the world what bravery and defense of democracy looks like.”

David McCormick, the Republican former hedge fund CEO running for Mr. Casey’s seat, accuses the Biden administration and Mr. Casey of being weak on foreign policy and their handling of Mr. Putin. He has said Mr. Biden was “slow to respond” to Ukraine’s needs after the invasion, and that support for American involvement has slipped away while the administration fails to lay out “an end state.” He told WTAE earlier this year that without solid answers on how more funding would lead to a resolution in the war, he would not support more aid to Ukraine.

Western Pennsylvania’s Republicans in the House opposed the Senate border security and foreign aid bill in February. They claimed the bill did not go far enough to prevent undocumented immigrants from crossing the border.

Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, said in February the proposal was “more of a foreign aid package than a border security package with half of the funding earmarked for Ukraine, not for our borders.”

But he, along with Reps. Glenn Thompson, R-Centre, and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, voted in favor of a bipartisan House bill in April to provide $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, which included $23 billion for replenishment of U.S. weapons, stocks, and facilities.

Messages left with the offices of the Pennsylvania delegation were not immediately returned.

Lew Irwin, a political science professor at Duquesne University, told the Post-Gazette Tuesday that he doubted either side will talk much about Ukraine and NATO as the election approaches compared to other campaign issues — “even if it is a potential ‘winner’ for Democrats.”

“Each side will stick to their core issues,” he said. “Republicans will avoid this one, I think, unless there comes a time when the Democrats begin to believe that national security — beyond Gaza/Israel — becomes more salient to their base and the swing voters than abortion rights, ‘corporate price gouging’ and democracy protection.”

(c)2024 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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