Poll Shows Dropping Support For Bush And Iraq “Surge” Idea
When President Bush presents his acutely-telegraphed announcement that he wants to increase troops in Iraq as part of a “surge” (escalation) he will do so from one of the weakest political positions possible, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll indicates:
President Bush will outline his “new way forward” in Iraq on Wednesday to a nation that overwhelmingly opposes sending more U.S. troops and is increasingly skeptical that the war can be won.A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday shows a daunting sales job ahead for the White House, which is considering a plan to deploy up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.
Those surveyed oppose the idea of increased troop levels by 61%-36%. Approval of the job Bush is doing in Iraq has sunk to 26%, a record low.
In other words: his clout is — at best — limited among the public at large. MORE:
Views of the war will be difficult to change with rhetoric alone, says Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland. And if the public expresses strong opposition to Bush’s plan, he says, Congress “may feel emboldened to exert what control they have to stop or at least make it more difficult for the president to move forward.”
The findings contained bad news for GWB, but a bit of a silver lining as well — and a cautionary note for Democrats:
•Nearly half of those surveyed say the United States can’t achieve its goals in Iraq regardless of how many troops it sends. One in four say U.S. goals can be achieved only with an increase in troop numbers.•Eight in 10 say the war has gone worse than the Bush administration expected. Of those people, 53% say Bush deserves “a great deal” of blame; 41% place a great deal of blame on Iraqi political leaders.
•By 72%-25%, Americans say Bush doesn’t have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq. Congressional Democrats fare only a little better: 66%-25%.
WARNING TO DEMOCRATS: That’s a sign that specific proposals are going to be needed and that if hearings are conducted on bungled aspects of the Iraq war, they’ll have to be forward-looking and solution-oriented. AND:
Even so, Democrats take control of Congress amid a wave of good feeling. By 2-to-1, Americans say they want congressional Democrats, not Bush, to have more influence over the direction of the nation.The president’s overall job approval rating is 37%, up 2 percentage points from mid-December.
That means:
(1) The general public (which excludes Rush and Sean) is willing to give the benefit of the doubt now to what the Democrats say about the war, back their demands for reasonable questions about policy, and give a serious hearing to what they propose. Bush & Co. finding a new twist to a “cut and run” charge won’t do.
(2) Bush’s job approval rating, though low, is still not in the sub-basement level according to this poll. Which means Democrats would be wise not to give him the back of their political hand.
But, overall, Bush’s big speech comes as his political capital is mostly spent and his credibility is at a low among Democrats, independents and even some Republicans — particularly on the war issue. It’ll be a hard sell since the customers trusted the previous advertising and have tried the basic product already — and they don’t like it.
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8 Responses to “Poll Shows Dropping Support For Bush And Iraq “Surge” Idea”
the surge is as much a fraud as the fence on the border
20,000? shit, why not 500,000
both numbers are fantasy
and listening to the new john mccain makes me ill…how can that man turn from all that he learned from vietnam and back this insanity??
or does he know like me that no surge will ever occur, and he is just playing to the base to gain points for the primaries
I trust Gordon Smith, the Republican Senator who met with the president and decided not to support the surge. There are many who will stick with the president out of loyalty or fear of being labelled a flip-flopper in the media, but Smith was one of the first to break away from his party. It also seems that those who are retired, but in a position to judge, like Colin Powell, are more likely to be candid about the surge. His biggest regret is tarring his reputation by going along with the administration, and giving that speech before the UN. How many will support the surge out of party loyalty or political pressure, not concience? Many will because they cannot accept defeat, and feel that any action-even a useless one that puts more lives in jeopardy- forestalls that foregone conclusion.
If the Democrats are civil but firm in getting some answers on just what we are to accomplish with this surge it will play well. Bush will be in an environment he has not yet experienced in Washington, people with the audacity to question his decisions. This is what the electorate voted, but the Democrats do need to exercise caution, they can’t be seen as obstructing just for the sake of having a showdown or scoring political points. Can’t wait to see Cheney on the Sunday morning talk shows.
How many will support the surge out of party loyalty or political pressure, not concience?
The following will support the escalation wholeheartedly for the above reason: John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and Fox News. The rest of America, not so much.
Bush finds himself where LBJ was about 40 years ago. He doesn’t really have a clue what to do and there are no good options. So…send in more soldiers.
I discovered Pete Townsend’s original lyrics for Won’t Get Fooled Again were actually aimed at Bush’s new plan. Probably not a song we’ll find on Bush’s IPod.
I think this infographic I made sums up my thoughts about this “Surge” pretty well.
Moreover, the Dems need to obstruct this President, it’s the right thing to do. We need to slow down the damage, and after Bush is gone, then we can start repairing it.
Grognard, great post and I agree. The Dems need to conduct oversight and get real answers as to what these troops would do and how progress will be monitored. Just putting more bodies into the line of fire isn’t good enough. If there is a clear well-defined plan on what this “surge” is going to accomplish, then maybe it’d be a good idea. So far, this administration and NEVER given a well-defined plan on anything. That’s what I hope this congress will be able to ferret out of this Administration.
Chris, If the Dems just obstruct but don’t identify the problems in Iraq and help identify solutions, they’ll just be labeled obstructionists by the GOP in ’08. That is why I believe Grognard has a correct idea.
Rambie- It was made public today that additional troops will be sent to Iraq in a couple of weeks. The administration will present this as part of a comprehensive plan—-i.e. a done deal, making it very difficult for the Dems to make this the subject of their investigations. I think those in the GOP need to grow a pair and join their blue brothers in standing up to Bush. Otherwise you could see a Republican wipeout in ’08.