Another poll on US public opinion...
 

New Washington Post Poll on Bush, ect. was released today with some interesting numbers. You can see the whole thing plus trends here: Link...

I'll highlight some of the interesting numbers...

Bush's approval rating is 68% with 29% disapprove. That is down almost 10% from 10 weeks ago.

Approval for handling the Iraq situation is 67%, down 8% from 8 weeks ago.

Acceptable levels of casualties in the war is down to 51% accept vs. 44% unacceptable, the lowest numbers in the group. That means 13% of people think casualties are unacceptable but don't blame Bush.

On WMD, 23% believe the war will only be justified if WMD are found against 63% who believe it was justified anyway.


The most interesting result is the final question:

10. Thinking about another country in the region: Would you support or oppose the United States taking military action against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons?
Support 56%
Oppose 38%
No opinion 6%

That means for the Bush administration the option is on the table. What are your opinions on these numbers?

i cant believe it.

so, people dont care for justification for a war, and are giving a approval for another war??

i bet these are the same people that are going to be bitching about the economy and govt spending for another war.

i'm really beginning to doubt my confidence in the american public.

What I've come to realize is there isnt one person who is going to please everyone. I'm probably wrong, but every president I've seen has some skeleton in their closet or has performed a blunder here and there. Some are bigger than others, but as long as I can walk out my door freely and persue my right to create as much prosperty as Im capable of I'm thankful. That doesnt mean I dont care about the rest of the world; I do because I feel in some way, as Earthlings were are all connected.

It seems with every president theres goods and bads. As far as Iran IMHO I think the US should do everything it can to support those that are uprising in the name of democracy in everyway short of sending troops in. That is if its democracy that the majority wants, its seems hard to distinguish these days. An American based satellite TV channel is helping the morale of those that are fighting against the clerics.

http://www.nitv.tv/main.htm

I have an innate distrust of polls, any beginning statistics student can tell you how to skew a poll to promote your interests. it is the GI-GO factor in action. the main question for any poll is who is paying for this????

I agree with Mike, I'd like to see how this poll was conducted. Did they simply go and take statistics out of Bush's back yard in Texas? I seriously doubt people are that supportive of Bush, but if democrats don't make their own issues and stop making fun of the way he runs things, he's going to get elected anyway. The best thing the democrats can do for his campaign is to call him an idiot. Seriously.

Much of the American public only stays informed on issues that affect their daily lives. Even many of those who do stay informed on international issues believe that WMD is not the justification for war. This should let the dems know that they should focus on domestic issues and not the legality of the war. If they want to make some inroads they should focus on the economy and not go on a tirade about an illegal war that most of them voted for in congress.

More agreement with Mike. Polls only show the answers to specific questions - they don't capture the nuance of peoples' thoughts on a situation till you start asking more detailed questions (would you support attacking Iran if......).

Lies, damned lies and statistics.

More agreement with mike059. Polls are easy to skew and usually are.


I think the Dems should seek to be less Anti-Republican and more Pro-Constituent. They seem to really have lost touch with their core constituency.

I don't expect anyone other than Democrats to be watching the live feeds of the debates between the contenders.

That stated, they are focusing on the economy and, except for a few statements, have not been deriding the President about an illegal war. The 10 second sound bites shown on Fox and MSNBC do not accurately portray (and aren't intended to) the issues debated during the multi-hour long events.

Once their debates and points are shown on more than C-SPAN (if they ever will be) then the mainstream will become more attuned to what exactly they are saying.

If people mainly get their news from a half-hour show, interrupted by approx. 10-15 minutes of commercials, and are only given a few minutes per story, how do you expect them to accurately judge what the candidates' platforms are?

Unless you are a Democrat, I find it hard to understand how you can judge whether my party has lost touch with me.

I was. They lost me.

na, you lost the party.

i'm still in touch

What specific issues, that the Democrat party once espoused, would you like them to address?

Everyone distrust polls until they agree with them. Its like biases in the news. You never see the ones you agree with.

I don't mean you specifically either, I mean in general. I don't rely on them much either. :D

Ideologically speaking, it's not specific issues, but core values. (Don't get all messed up with the Gay or Abortion arguments, while they may reflect certain values they aren't what I'm talking about.)

well, did you change or did the party change it's platform?

The world changed

can you expand on that?

When you post something like this, but still claim to be a Libertarian, a single tear rolls down my cheek. :( :(

Yea, but I can't type that much in a day. The world changed, but it didn't. The conundrum that is life makes a person take notice of all the times he's been caught up in a series of unintended consequences, only to realize that it really wasn't reality to begin with. I could tell some stories.:D

Let's just say the faces have changed, but the themes remain the same. We are doomed to repeat history until we figure out the truth and we don't even know what the truth is not, much less what it is.

i'm socially liberal, economically moderate.