Bush's Support Over Handling of Terrorism Drops, Poll Shows

[Robbien]

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Voter approval of President George W. Bush's handling of the war on terrorism fell by 8 percentage points after criticism from his former anti-terror chief, a Newsweek poll found.

Voter approval of Bush's efforts to fight terror and improve homeland security dropped to 57 percent from 65 percent in the previous week's poll, Newsweek said. The magazine said the poll was conducted Thursday and Friday among 1,002 adults aged 18 or older. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, the magazine said.

Bush's former anti-terror adviser Richard A. Clarke testified Wednesday that the administration didn't take the threat from the terrorist organization al-Qaeda seriously enough before the September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. Clarke claims in a new book that Bush was more focused on Iraq.

According to the poll, Americans were almost evenly split on whether the Bush administration has done all it can to fight terrorism, with 46 percent saying the government has done all it can, while 43 percent said it hasn't. Newsweek said 44 percent believed the president should testify publicly before a U.S. commission investigating the matter.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aZ3UVmo7TeQI&refer=top_world_news

[thebigidea]

1. muahahah. His so called "strong point"

we MUST keep hammering away. To let Condi go now would be foolish.

[mobuto]

3. Exactly

Kerry needs to go after Bush where he appears to be strongest - on National Security. Refight the Battle of Leuctra.

[Robbien]

2. The Newsweek site has some more revealing details

according to them:

With the president’s leadership in the war on terror the centerpiece of his re-election campaign, Bush saw drops in his approval ratings on both terrorism and Iraq. According to the poll, 44 percent of all voters approve of his handling of the war, whereas 50 percent disapprove (up from 39 percent disapproving at the end of last year). And more voters say Bush’s handling of postwar Iraq makes them less likely to vote for him (42 percent) than say it makes them more likely to support him (34 percent).

That 34% must be the core freepers and corporates and a few misguided souls.

[darkstar]

8. Thanx, Robbien

>>>>According to the poll, 44 percent of all voters approve of his handling of the war, whereas 50 percent disapprove (up from 39 percent disapproving at the end of last year).>>>>

IMO, these are the numbers that will do him in. Note it is his handling of the war, not the decision itself per se. Sadly for Iraqis, our tropps and the nation, can anyone spin a scenario in which the 44% goes up markedly? IMO, this is about as low as it can go already if W plans on another 4. I mean, doesn't a 38%/%53% opinion on Iraq come November send him packing?

[Barrett808]

4. Very nice top-story treatment

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032542/



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4614818/

[proud patriot]

9. keep up the great work fellow DUers

:D

[thebigidea]

12. Here's something interesting

" Overall, 17 percent of Americans said that the Clarke testimony has made them feel less favorable towards the president and nearly half (44 percent) of them feel that he should testify in public."

44 percent? Surely we could improve that - lets see how the American public likes hearing that their President refuses to testify under oath, in public, about 9/11. Lets see what the families think.

After Condi, zero in on her bosses - George and Dick!

[many a good man]

13. DU this poll!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4614361">Bush and the 9/11 Charges

so far:

Do you think that President Bush and his administration have taken the threat of global terrorism as seriously as they should have or have they not taken the threat seriously enough? * 16 web responses

RESPONSES WEB Newsweek Magazine

Have taken seriously 6% 61%
Have not taken seriously enough 94% 34%
Don't know 0% 5%

Do you think that former president Clinton and his administration took the threat of global terrorism as seriously as they should have or did they not take the threat seriously enough? * 16 web responses

RESPONSES WEB Newsweek Magazine

Did take seriously 69% 26%
Did not take seriously enough 31% 65%
Don't know 0% 9%

Given what each administration knew at the time, do you think the Bush administration is more to blame for not preventing the September 11 attacks or is the Clinton administration more to blame, or are both equally to blame? * 16 web responses

RESPONSES WEB Newsweek Magazine

Bush administration 75% 17%
Clinton administration 0% 24%
Both equally 25% 43%
Neither 0% 10%
Don't know 0% 6%

Has the Bush administration done all it could to fight terrorism or has it not done all it could? * 16 web responses

RESPONSES WEB Newsweek Magazine

Has done all it could 0% 46%
Has not done all it could 100% 43%
Don't know 0% 11%

Has what Clarke said about Bush made you feel more favorably toward Bush or less favorably toward Bush, or hasn't it made much difference either way? * 16 web responses

RESPONSES WEB Newsweek Magazine

More favorable 0% 10%
Less favorable 94% 17%
Not much different either way 6% 65%
Don't know 0% 8%

Do you think the attention that the Bush administration has given to Iraq has seriously distracted from the administration's efforts to fight terrorism generally? * 16 web responses

RESPONSES WEB Newsweek Magazine

Yes 100% 42%
No 0% 47%
Don't know 0% 11%

[RedSock]

15. blow for bush?

chimp sees that -- probably thinks he's getting some nice cocaine as a gift .....

[snippy]

19. I like the headline but expected this to be the picture.

[jamesinca]

5. Keep working, we can win this thing in a landslide

he just lost his big lead on national security. That makes Kerry virtually tied or leading in every category now.

[alcuno]

6. Fun w/ Numbers - That would be 8 million voters.

If his drop in the handling of the war on terrorism were extrapolated into real numbers. That's 8 million people. Also if handling of the war went from 39% disapproval to 50% disapproval, that 11 million people. Hahahahahahaha.

[calimary]

7. Repeat after me: THIS IS NO TIME TO GET COMPLACENT!!!

It's just the end of March. We've got a long way to go til November. This looks good NOW. But it's merely something we have to BUILD UPON. We can't just let it lie there, raise our champagne glasses to it, and then go home. Our work is just beginning!

DON'T LET THIS LULL YOU!!! NOT FOR AN INSTANT!!!!

CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!!!!!!!

(note my sig line for First Thing Monday Morning)

[alcuno]

14. You are NO fun, calimary!

vigilance - smigilance. Just admit that it's more FUN to think of numbers than percents.

[lancdem]

10. Kerry gained 1 point since the last poll

He leads Bush 48-47; it was 48-48 last week. With Nader, it's still Bush 45, Kerry 43.

[lancdem]

11. Here are some interesting results:

"Although exactly half of the American public has paid at least some attention to Clarke’s allegations, only a quarter of those who have been following the story say they see Clarke as a selfless public servant. Fifty percent suspect Clarke has some personal or political agenda, while another 25 percent don’t know what to make of his accusations. By a margin of 61 percent to 34 percent, Americans feel that, overall, the Bush administration has taken the terror threat seriously. The numbers are the reverse for Bush’s predecessor: 65 percent are critical of how seriously they believe the Clinton administration took the threat."

Clarke isn't exactly seen as a knight in shining armor (people tend to suspect everyone in D.C. has an agenda, so this really isn't a surprise), but his charges have hurt Bush in the short term. And the longer this is in the news, the more it could damage Shrub.

[sandnsea]

18. That's a problem

People still don't understand. Damn. How do we get this through to these lunkheads.

[snippy]

21. Good points about damage to Bush.

I agree that "the longer this is in the news, the more it could damage Shrub." Along those lines, another thing that occurred to me is that this poll was done before this weeks issue of the magazine (and Time) was published. So more damage may be just around the corner.

[dax]

22. Can people be THAT STUPID?BUSH was on vacation

Bill was meeting daily with his counter terror team and the "principals who could MAKE DECISIONS. Bush relegated deputies and a lengthy process that produced NOTHING then after 9/11 he implemented CLARKE's plan. I have not found anyone yet who doesn't understand-I just talked to the checker and bagger at Safeway about it. WE NEED TO TALK TPO EVERYONE and write your newspapers-make them do a story on Edmonds-in conjunction with Clarke, she is deadly. Ashcroft ordered her to cleanse pre-911 intercepts to cover-up the lack of attention to specific threats. If she lives long enough-they should all go to jail. She points out they hired double agents to translate who withheld info and their was no process to check on that-when she complained, they fired her.

[lebkuchen]

16. Clarke has damaged Bush's bread and butter

good

[Steven_S]

17. A drop of 8 percentage points..

Is still close enough to steal. Remember we have to beat Diebold as well as bush. Keep pounding and pounding and then pound him some more until he's gone.

[rocktivity]

20. He's a lying scheming traitor at best; a complete incompetent at worst

He's lost his "Kerry is soft on defense" strategy. And the longer they look the other way while Condi refuses to testify, the worse he's going to look. We've got eight months to convince the voters that they have to face reality--we're off to a good start.

:headbang:
rocknation

[KayLaw]

23. Well...

I daresay! I'm surprised the number who want him to testify is as small as it is.

[JDPriestly]

24. Bush's polls on handling terrorism

Clarke's testimony is only the first, dramatic step in focusing public opinion on the failure of the Bush administration to respond to the Al Quaeda threat before 9/11. The next step will be releasing hard evidence that supports Clarke's testimony -- evidence that the Bush administration cannot spin away through character assassination. Some potential evidence of that kind is mentioned on the website of the Center for American Progress at http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=8473 or www.americanprogress.org.

I have no idea how reliable that website is, but it provides sources. Is anyone familiar with it?