Post by ErinB on Apr 2, 2004 17:34:39 GMT -5
ARE PEOPLE WAKING UP? LET'S HOPE SO. 
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/16/opinion/polls/main606621.shtml
Shifting Opinions On Iraq
NEW YORK, March 17, 2004
A majority of Americans now believe the Bush Administration exaggerated the intelligence it received about weapons of mass destruction to build support for the war.
(CBS) Analysis by Jennifer De Pinto and Jinghua Zou based on polling data from the CBS News poll and the CBS News/New York Times poll.
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Much has changed in public opinion on the Iraq war over the last year: today Americans are less convinced that Iraq posed an immediate threat, or that it harbored weapons of mass destruction, than they were in the spring of 2003. And President Bush, who had rallied much of the nation to his side and to the war effort as the fighting began, has seen his own poll numbers drop dramatically since then – both overall and in his handling of Iraq.
Yet while support for the U.S. action has declined from one year ago, it has by no means gone away. Fewer today than one year ago believe the war was the right thing to do, but most Americans still say that it was. Half believe there are weapons of mass destruction still to be found. And as they look back, few Americans today - as then – believe that Iraq had never posed any threat to the U.S. at all.
PRESIDENT BUSH AND THE WAR
As the war with Iraq got underway, the American public rallied behind George W. Bush. On March 20th, the day immediately after the U.S. military’s first attack on Iraq, 67% approved of the job Bush was doing as President; just a week earlier, his job approval had been 58%.
Following the fall of Baghdad, 73% of Americans approved of Bush's overall job performance – his war-time high.
Yet from that point forward, with increasing coalition casualties and Americans voicing concern about the economy back home, the President’s overall job approval rating started to decline. By August, 55% of Americans approved of his job performance, and currently 51% approve. This is up slightly from 47% last month -- the lowest approval rating of his presidency.
More...
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/16/opinion/polls/main606621.shtml
Shifting Opinions On Iraq
NEW YORK, March 17, 2004
A majority of Americans now believe the Bush Administration exaggerated the intelligence it received about weapons of mass destruction to build support for the war.
(CBS) Analysis by Jennifer De Pinto and Jinghua Zou based on polling data from the CBS News poll and the CBS News/New York Times poll.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Much has changed in public opinion on the Iraq war over the last year: today Americans are less convinced that Iraq posed an immediate threat, or that it harbored weapons of mass destruction, than they were in the spring of 2003. And President Bush, who had rallied much of the nation to his side and to the war effort as the fighting began, has seen his own poll numbers drop dramatically since then – both overall and in his handling of Iraq.
Yet while support for the U.S. action has declined from one year ago, it has by no means gone away. Fewer today than one year ago believe the war was the right thing to do, but most Americans still say that it was. Half believe there are weapons of mass destruction still to be found. And as they look back, few Americans today - as then – believe that Iraq had never posed any threat to the U.S. at all.
PRESIDENT BUSH AND THE WAR
As the war with Iraq got underway, the American public rallied behind George W. Bush. On March 20th, the day immediately after the U.S. military’s first attack on Iraq, 67% approved of the job Bush was doing as President; just a week earlier, his job approval had been 58%.
Following the fall of Baghdad, 73% of Americans approved of Bush's overall job performance – his war-time high.
Yet from that point forward, with increasing coalition casualties and Americans voicing concern about the economy back home, the President’s overall job approval rating started to decline. By August, 55% of Americans approved of his job performance, and currently 51% approve. This is up slightly from 47% last month -- the lowest approval rating of his presidency.
More...
