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Colby/Globe Survey Indicates Growing Bipartisan Support for Political Compromise

PORTLAND, Maine - A survey done for Colby College and the Boston Globe shows a growing, bi-partisan desire for compromise on political issues.  

Dan Shea, a professor of government at Colby's Goldfarb Center, says the most recent poll results show a shift in attitudes over the last six years:

"Spring of 2010, very few strong conservatives and Republicans wanted to compromise," Shea says. "I think that they thought they were going to win the mid-term election - which, of course, they did.  And they sort of stuck with that for a while.  Now that's changed."

The poll was conducted by Survey USA, and is based on interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide. It found two out of three voters saying it was more important for a politician to compromise than to stand firm on a set of beliefs. 

Eighty-two percent of those polled said elected officials should try to be friends with members of the other party.