Gallup Poll: Public Confidence In Military Is High

There’s good news for the military in a Gallup poll that suggests at least one institution hasn’t been tarnished with a perception that it’s becoming a political tool:

The American public has more confidence in the military than in any other institution, according to a Gallup poll released this week.

Seventy-four percent of those surveyed in Gallup’s 2005 confidence poll said they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the military – more than in a full range of other government, religious, economic, medical, business and news organizations.

The poll, conducted between May 23 and 26, involved telephone interviews with a randomly selected sample of 1,004 people 18 and older, Gallup officials said. Those surveyed expressed strong confidence in the military, with 42 percent expressing “a great deal” of confidence in the military and 32 percent, “quite a lot” of confidence. Eighteen percent said they have “some” confidence, 7 percent, “very little,” and 1 percent, “none.”

Public confidence in the military jumped following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has remained consistently high, Gallup officials noted. The 2002 survey reflected a 13 percent increase in confidence in the military over the previous year’s poll. The public expressed a 79 percent high-confidence rate in the military in 2002, an 82 percent rate in 2003, and a 75 percent rate in 2004.

This year’s 74 percent confidence level exceeded that of all 15 institutions included in the 2005 survey. Police ranked second, with 63 percent of responders expressing “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in them. Organized religion rated third, with 53 percent of responders expressing high confidence, and banks rated a 49 percent high-confidence rate.

That’s VERY impressive. It also suggests a politico (of either party) who has a military background and perceived as not a political hack could have future Prsidential prospects…IF he (or she) has a good organization, solid planning, and a good campaign manager.

The other results are also VERY interesting:

Health maintenance organizations bottomed out the list, with just 17 percent of responders expressing high confidence in them. Big business and Congress tied for the second- and third-lowest rankings, with 22 percent of responders expressing “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in them.

So Congress is BELOW HMOs. And news?

The Gallup organization noted that public trust in television news and newspapers reached an all-time low this year, with 28 percent of responders expressing high confidence in them.

What does all of this taken together suggest?

1. Military spokesmen (mid-level or high level) carry great weight with the public when they speak.
2. In a press-military dispute there is a built in advantage for the military which is apparently viewed as not having any ideological axe to grind. If the press’ and Congress’ credibility goes down any more in the polls they’ll have to worry about groundhogs.
3. A thoughtful, strong but not shrill military partisan who enters politics is skillfully managed could go over well with many Americans. There are some already in it, but the keys are going to be desire, skillful management, and image enhancement once in the political fray, not image deterioration.