Continuing Year of Transition

Here are some numbers from an ABC/Washington Post poll conducted last week:

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Aug. 3-6, 2006. N=1,002 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3


"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?"

Approve – 36%
Disapprove – 62%
Unsure – 2%


"Do you think the number of U.S. military forces in Iraq should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same?"

Increased – 17%
Decreased – 53%
Same – 27%
Unsure – 3%

"Would you describe Iraq as currently in a civil war, not in a civil war but close to one, or is the situation less severe than that?"

Civil War – 34%
Close to Civil War – 51%
Less Severe – 12%
Unsure – 3%


Now clearly we can see that the American people are not happy with things in Iraq and think that we should be leaving there. So here are the “money questions” for those Democrats who wish to campaign on a theme of “It’s not our war but we can do it better.” Or, as I like to call them, the “Year of Transitioners”:


"Do you think the Bush Administration does or does not have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq?"

Does – 33%
Does Not – 64%
Unsure – 3%

"Do you think the Democrats in Congress do or do not have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq?"

Do – 27%
Do Not – 66%
Unsure – 6%


"Which political party -- the Democrats or the Republicans -- do you trust to do a better job handling the situation in Iraq?"

Democrats – 43%
Republicans – 40%
Both –
Neither – 11%**
Unsure – 5%

**With the Democrats holding a slight edge within the margin of error, I would suggest the answer “neither” is most representative here.

Finally, here is a set of numbers for those “Support our Troops” folks who claimed earlier that withdrawing would somehow discount the sacrifices made by those who have died there. This is especially true of the ones who criticized John Kerry for his “wrong war – wrong place – wrong time” analysis by saying that he was dishonoring the fallen troops:

"All in all, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, do you think the war with Iraq was worth fighting, or not?"

Worth Fighting – 39%
Not Worth Fighting – 59%
Unsure – 1%

So, if the majority now believes the “war” was not worth the sacrifice, does that mean they also believe the fallen have died in vain? More importantly to me, if the majority believes that the price has been too high today, how many more lives are they willing to sacrifice before the politicians catch up?

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue