Newsweek Poll: Uptick in Majorities Who Believe War Going as Well as Officials Report and See Well Thought-Out Plans for Threats at Home; Approval Steady for Bush, Military Action
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Most Say Saudi Arabia Not Doing Enough to Support Fight Against Terrorism;
Back More U.S. Pressure on Saudis to Share Information,
Allow Military to Operate Within Borders
73 Percent Support Developing New Energy Sources; 73% Would Pay $200 More For More Fuel-Efficient Car, but Only 24% Favor Raising Gas Taxes by 50 Cents
NEW YORK, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- In the aftermath of President George W. Bush's speech on Thursday and reports of a Taliban defeat in the strategic town of Mazar-e Sharif, the number of Americans who think the war in Afghanistan is going as well as U.S. officials report ticked up to 58 percent in the current Newsweek Poll, up from 56 percent one week ago. Bush's job approval rating remained steady at 85 percent and those who approve of the current U.S. military action against terrorism also increased to 88 percent, up from 86 percent one week ago in the Newsweek Poll.
(Photo: newscom.com )
There has also been an increase in the number of Americans polled who think Bush's administration has a well thought-out plan for fighting bioterrorism and other terrorist threats at home: 54 percent now say yes, while 38 percent disagree. One week ago in the Newsweek Poll, Americans were split at 46-to-46 percent on the question.
This week's poll also shows the lowest level yet of those who feel less safe since the Sept. 11 attacks and anthrax scare: only 22 percent of Americans say they feel somewhat or a lot less safe, down slightly from 26 percent one week ago and a high of 37 percent four weeks ago in the poll.
A majority of Americans (64%) say Saudi Arabia has failed to do enough to support the United States and fight terrorism in the aftermath of Sept. 11, according to the poll. And in order to effectively fight terrorism in the Middle East, 83 percent say it is very important to put more pressure on the Saudis to share more intelligence information to help identify terrorists and their financial backers; 64 percent say more pressure is needed to give the U.S. military more freedom to operate within Saudi Arabia's borders. Smaller majorities want to see more pressure put on the Saudis to reduce funding to schools run by Islamic extremists (57%) and to be more open, democratic and responsive to their citizens' concerns (57%), the poll shows.
Seventy-three percent of Americans say the U.S. should make a major effort to develop new energy sources as an alternative to Middle East oil because it would make the U.S. energy supplies less subject to the pressures of Middle East politics, the poll shows. Only 17 percent say it's not worth doing because cutbacks in U.S. oil business would weaken allied governments like Saudi Arabia and increase support for Islamic extremists in the Middle East.
As a way to make the U.S. less dependent on oil as an energy source, 84 percent of Americans favor increasing government funding for research and development of alternative energy sources like solar and wind power and fuel cells; 72 percent favor changing federal regulations to require sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to meet the same fuel economy standards as regular passenger cars and 73 percent favor giving tax breaks to encourage people to buy cars powered by hybrid gas and electric engines that get more than 50 miles per gallon, the poll shows.
Americans are split on whether or not they'd seriously consider buying or leasing a hybrid car, one that uses a combination of gas and electric power, when replacing a vehicle they now drive (50% say they would, 41% say they wouldn't). But to make hybrid cars more attractive and to increase sales, 51 percent say the price to own or lease should be reduced substantially by special tax breaks or discounts; 45 percent say adding more room for passengers or cargo would help and 44 percent say just making the cars more powerful would help sales.
Americans will also take steps on their own as a way to reduce the U.S. dependence on oil as an energy source: 73 percent of those polled say they would be willing to buy a vehicle with higher fuel economy when they need a new car, even if it means paying an extra $200 or not being able to buy today's largest SUVs; 58 percent say they'd be willing to pay another 10 cents more in taxes per gallon of gas, which would fund research and development of alternative energy sources and encourage people to use less gas. But only 24 percent would pay another 50 cents per gallon in gasoline taxes.
If the U.S. is to become less dependent on oil as an energy source, 79 percent of all those polled think it's at least somewhat important (42% say very important) that Americans now driving SUVs switch to more fuel-efficient vehicles. Even 33 percent of those who own SUVs say it's very important (42% of SUV owners say it's somewhat important).
For this Newsweek Poll, Princeton Survey Research Associates interviewed by telephone 1,001 adults aged 18 and older on November 8-9, 2001. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. This Newsweek Poll is part of the November 19 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, November 12).
SOURCE Newsweek
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