Obama's War -- And America's
STANDARD BLOG
By Michael Goldfarb
Greg Sargent pulls some fascinating numbers out of a new CNN poll, which finds support for Obama's surge at 61 percent. The administration can thank Republicans -- the loyal opposition -- for that impressive number. Without the support of nearly every major figure in Republican politics, surely that number would be much smaller, smaller even than Obama's approval number, which has sunk to just 48 percent in this latest CNN poll.
The other interesting finding, as Sargent notes:
>>>When asked whose policies people currently blame for the Afghaninstan mess, 64% blame Bush, versus only 17% who blame Obama. That's understandable.
But when asked whose policies would be to blame if the current situation does not improve by the summer of 2011, Obama's target for withdrawal, a majority, 54%, picks Obama. Only 34% say Bush.
In the public mind, this is Obama's War.<<<
But it's more than Obama's war, it's America's war. Support for the initial invasion of Afghanistan was near universal, both candidates in the 2008 election ran on a pledge to renew America's committment to the fight and to increase troop levels, and now 61 percent of Americans support Obama's plan to add the troops his commander requested. If things don't go as planned over the next 18 months, the public can blame Obama, but it's not just Obama that's on the hook for this war -- the whole country is. |
