Our respondents offered that support despite their apparently declining faith in the vibrancy of the U.S. technology industry. Salaries are up, unemployment is down and product development starts have picked up — but only a third of the engineers and managers who responded to our survey said they believe American technology is forging ahead.

But as our poll shows, readers aren't blaming George Bush for the industry's woes. They're focusing on these top national issues in the presidential campaign this year:

• Economy: 32 percent;

• Iraq war: 27 percent;

• Terrorism: 26 percent;

• Job creation: 9 percent; and

• Other, 6 percent.

Here's a sampling of what designers, managers and other industry people are saying about their choice for president.

From the legion of Bush-Cheney ticket advocates:

"Mr. Bush, for all his misgivings, is solidly a supporter of American technology. As a Republican, he believes that government should stay out of private industry. I agree with him. Mr. Kerry, on the other hand, will have more cost associated to any efforts here, due to his philosophy of government regulation, intervention and taxation, all stifling private business."

"President Bush has honorable intentions," said another respondent, "and I feel he would best keep my interests and the interests of the country in priority. "

"[I'm a] typical engineer — conservative."

That last respondent's generalization is on target: On the whole, engineers tend to be more conservative than the overall population. Respondents in the military/aerospace field overwhelmingly said they will pick the president over Kerry, 64 percent to 27 percent. Republican administrations are generally seen as more favorable to the defense industry, and more pro-business, than Democratic ones, and our results supported that perception.

"We need to continue the pro-business (low-tax) policies," commented one pro-Bush respondent. "We need continuity with the war on terror — no time for learning curves."

"Reducing taxes and shortening depreciation have encouraged a lot of new startup businesses," wrote another Bush supporter. "These new businesses then employ people and order products, which really stimulates the overall economy."

Other reasons given for favoring Bush in 2004 include these two readers' comments:

"He says what he's going to do, and he does what he says. He did a great job of rallying the country after 9/11, showing great leadership even when he was new to the office. He strives to continue the economic legacy that Reagan started. I think that he has done a great job."

"Kerry wants to tax the income levels I want to reach someday. Screw that!"

The design community can be swayed, however. The 1992 EE Times Salary Survey's presidential poll gave Bill Clinton a slight edge over sitting Republican George H.W. Bush. That year the engineering community proved to be in sync with the voting community at large: Clinton went on to beat Bush the elder by a thin margin. In 2000, however, our respondents gave George W. Bush a solid 54 percent to 31 percent margin over Al Gore — a margin that proved disproportionate to that election's disputed outcome.

This year, our survey showed that Kerry has his fans among the engineering community — although he may benefiting more from anti-Bush sentiments than pro-Kerry ones. Consider these three responses:

"G.W. . . . has harmed the security of this country more in his term than any three presidents combined. He has weakened alliances and offended as many countries and peoples as he can. Kerry might be able to patch foreign relations back to what they were before the W. debacle."

"Anybody but Bush. Can't say Kerry will surely be better, but he has the opportunity."

"There's a Bush in the White House, and we're at war with Iraq. Haven't we done this already?"

Apparently, John Kerry has his work cut out for him in defining his views in terms other than "anybody but Bush." One supporter cited the strengths Kerry could bring to the office:

"Kerry understands the interdependent nature of our modern world. Bush squandered hundreds of billions of dollars and hundreds of lives in a failed attempt to stop terrorism. As a result Kerry will have a more effective foreign policy. In domestic areas, where Bush does not understand the public/private balance that [brought] America to its prominent economic position, Kerry will recommit to rebuilding our human capital and stopping the raid on the wealth of future generations."

Approximately 12 percent of the sample said they will take a third route. Three percent said they will cast ballots for Ralph Nader. One respondent explained why: "I don't like Ralph Nader, but he is the only other choice and might be able to forge some compromise between ridiculous positions too far to the right or the left."

Meanwhile, 9 percent will pull the lever for a choice "other" than the prevailing three. If the Kerry-Edwards ticket is to succeed, it must win over voters such as the three respondents who respectively said they will vote for:

"None of the above."

"Someone else, to express my dissatisfaction with the current policies."

"Michael A. Peroutka of the Constitution Party."

Top issues
The economy edged out the other choices in our survey as the top issue in the presidential race, but only by a small margin over the next two top issues (the Iraq war and terrorism). After a rough start at the beginning of the Bush administration, the economy has turned around in the past year. In late July, the Conference Board's index of consumer confidence hit a two-year high, thanks to a declining national unemployment rate.

Here's a sampling of comments telling why readers selected the economy as the top issue:

"The economy and what's in my pocket will always be first. Second, however, is the Iraq war and getting our guys back home."

"It's always the economy. Bush's economic policy seems to be pulling the U.S. (and related economies) out of the recession."

"I believe the economy is going to win out. The recession should be over, but the country is not recovering. The global economy is sucking us dry, and a general pessimism is pervasive. Everyone I know dislikes their job and is worried about their future. I wish there would be a strong backlash against the offshoring of skilled technical jobs, but I'm not banking on it."

The Iraq war evoked both anti-Bush and pro-Bush comments:

"No one anticipated the Iraq war being drawn out as long as it has been."

"Iraq was invaded and Saddam captured — and we are not better off today than when Bush started the war. In fact, we are less secure."

"I believe that George Bush has done the right thing and will stay the course, just as Ronald Reagan did during the Cold War. I don't have a clue what John Kerry will do."

Of course, the events and aftermath of 9/11 will forever be remembered as part of the Bush years.

"Terrorism must be eliminated," one respondent wrote. "If it is allowed to exist, the effects can devastate this country and its economy."

"Most liberals don't realize the extreme danger that terrorism [as practiced by groups like al Qaeda] represents," stated another. "This is not like the IRA [Irish Republican Army] or Arafat Palestinians. These people hate everyone that doesn't agree with them."

"We're at war with Islamic terrorists," wrote a third respondent, but "this is a worldwide problem that needs a worldwide response. Bush has polarized the world."

One complaint about the economic upswing of the past half-year has been that it's been a "jobless recovery." That resonates with our respondents, 9 percent of whom selected it as a key issue.

"The lack of jobs created by this so-called economic recovery will be the prime issue," one respondent commented. "Lots of decent-paying jobs in my region are now gone, many of them to other countries, and flipping burgers for a living or working at Wal-Mart won't feed and house a family. Even though I consider myself a conservative, I will be holding my nose come November when I vote."

"Job creation affects the population most directly," wrote another. "Few displaced people have been able to regain their prelayoff status."

State of the industry
Outsiders can look at statistics and believe the American electronics industry is doing well, if not quite as well as in 2000. But the folks in the engineering trenches have a hard time believing the U.S. technology industry is in better shape today.

The 34 percent who see it "on the rise" is a startling 43 percentage points lower than when we polled respondents in 2000, prior to George W. Bush's election to his first term. As Vice President Al Gore and then-Texas Gov. Bush were gearing up their campaigns, a solid 77 percent of that year's group of engineers and managers, riding the crest of record employment and the communications boom, tabbed American industry as on the upswing.

We all know what happened after that: The boom busted, and U.S. industry went on a cost-cutting binge that shelved projects, shaved staffs and exported work overseas. With the communications technology industry mired in overbuilt projects and overloaded inventory, industry struggled to come up with a "killer app" that could keep the technology engine pumping. Indeed, in 2004, the stars of the technology field have been consumers, rather than commercial customers, as homeowners have snapped up LCD TVs, DVD players and iPods.

If there has been any real pickup on the commercial side, it's been in defense. Military/aerospace engineers were the most optimistic industry group in our sample: 42 percent said they see American industry heading upward, some 8 percentage points higher than the average. Control/test industry participants

in the survey offered a gloomy assessment of the state of the industry: 27 percent saw a rise, 5 points lower than the mean.

Why do roughly one-third of engineers believe the U.S. technology field is in decline, and another third think it's stuck in neutral?

Here are some of their observations:

"A lack of an energy and government-led technology policy seems to have left private industry without a rudder and clueless as to how to move forward. Is there any company out there that has a five-year-plus technology plan?"

"The economy is in a shambles, and the telecom industry is upside down and looking to someplace to go. But where?"

That may refer to some readers' beliefs that, particularly in telecom, there's no killer app to compel corporations to start spending again for upgraded facilities.

"The U.S. is on track to become a Third World technology country," one respondent lamented.

But others expressed confidence that the country is on track. "The economy is growing at a significant rate," one respondent commented. "We are finally pushing for a change in the Mideast. Our continued economic growth as well as our security require that we stay the current course."

No shortages
It should come as no surprise that nearly eight out of 10 respondents don't see any shortage of engineers in this country. Except during the late 1990s, when engineering unemployment plunged below 1 percent, U.S. EEs and managers have disputed claims — still being made today — that there's a lack of engineers.

Nonetheless, one new development has been a drop in engineering students at universities, even at prestigious ones such as MIT. Students fear that engineering jobs will be shipped overseas. That's not happening to lawyers or doctors.

"Despite all the blather that exporting jobs will create more net jobs than we lose, you can't fool the students. They are voting with their feet, as they select fields of study that are less transportable," one respondent wrote. "Exporting jobs is only good for other countries and for corporations — not the middle class, or this country. Sorry for the rant."

That's OK. This is a salary and opinion survey, after all. Till next year.

Related chart: