Poll: 75% expect troops to be withdrawn swiftly under Democratic Congress

[ProSense]

Poll Shows Iraq War Is Voters' Main Concern

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MEGAN THEE
Published: November 1, 2006

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 — A substantial majority of Americans expect Democrats to reduce or end American military involvement in Iraq if they win control of Congress next Tuesday, and say Republicans would maintain or increase troop levels to try to win the war if they hold on to power on Capitol Hill, according to the final New York Times/CBS News poll before the midterm election.

The poll found that just 29 percent of Americans approve of the way President Bush is managing the war in Iraq, matching the lowest mark of his presidency. Nearly 70 percent of Americans said Mr. Bush did not have a plan to end the war, and an overwhelming 80 percent said Mr. Bush’s latest effort to rally public support for the conflict amounted to a change in language but not policy.

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By a slight margin, more respondents said the threat of terrorism would increase under Republicans than those who said it would increase under Democrats.

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Notwithstanding the clear expectation — among member of both parties Democrats and Republicans — that a Democratic Congress would produce a change in Iraqi policy, it is not clear how much influence they might have on Mr. Bush, who as commander in chief would retain the final say. In addition, while Democrats have coalesced around a general position of finding a way to reduce or end American involvement in Iraq, there is substantial disagreement among Democratic Congressional leaders and candidates about exactly how to accomplish this.

Nearly 75 percent of respondents — including 67 percent of Republicans and 92 percent of Democrats — said they expected Americans troops would be taken out of Iraq more swiftly under a Democratic Congress.

Forty-one percent of respondents said they expected troop levels in Iraq would decrease if Democrats win, while another 40 percent said the party would seek to remove all troops. Forty-one percent said they expected troop levels to remain the same if Republicans win, while 29 percent said they thought the United States would send more troops in if the Republicans continue to control Congress.

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