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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GUSTAVE JAEGER who wrote (9714)	2/18/2003 6:16:53 AM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

Australia's leader, John Howard, seems as though he's having a tough time getting in tune with his people as most Australians don't want the war on Iraq, especially without UN approval. theaustralian.news.com.au Coalition support undented: poll By Steve Lewis and Matt Price February 18, 2003 VOTER support for the Coalition has not been dented by John Howard's dogged backing of the hardline US drive to disarm Saddam Hussein, despite hundreds of thousands of Australians taking to the streets over the weekend to protest against war. But the Prime Minister's personal standing has taken a battering, with his approval rating slipping to an eight-month low of 48 per cent, suggesting his decision to deploy troops and back US President George W. Bush is proving costly. Even so, the latest Newspoll also shows a further drop in Simon Crean's popularity, with more than 50 per cent of voters expressing dissatisfaction in the Opposition Leader for the first time since he took over from Kim Beazley. And Mr Howard maintains his solid lead over Mr Crean as preferred prime minister. The latest Newspoll, conducted exclusively for The Australian during the weekend, shows voters have marked down the performance of both political leaders during the debate over war on Iraq. A Newspoll taken two weeks before showed only 18 per cent of voters supported Australian involvement in military action against Iraq without a mandate from the Security Council, with support jumping to 57 per cent if backed by the UN. And 450,000 Australians took to the streets on the weekend to oppose war with Iraq. Yet voters appear to have not changed their political allegiance, with Labor and the Liberal-National Coalition's primary vote remaining steady. Newspoll showed that if an election had been held at the weekend, the Coalition would have been returned to office with an almost identical two-party-preferred vote to the November 2001 poll, 51 per cent to Labor's 49 per cent. From a peak of 65 per cent after the Bali bombings in October last year, Mr Howard's satisfaction rating has dropped 17 percentage points in just a few months. His week-long "peace mission" failed to sway voters, with his approval rating falling from 56 per cent to 48 per cent in the past fortnight, his lowest since last May. The news is even more grim for Mr Crean, whose satisfaction rating of 31 per cent is likely to rekindle speculation over his leadership. Labor Party figures were certain Mr Crean ? and the Opposition ? would gain some "bounce" from the saturation political debate on Iraq. Mr Crean was heckled when he addressed a Brisbane peace rally ? apparently for not ruling out war with UN backing ? and he faces pressure from within the Labor caucus to adopt a tougher anti-war stance when parliament resumes next month. "The public doesn't want him," was the view of one senior Labor figure. Mr Howard on Sunday argued that public opinion on the threatened war could not be measured by the size of the weekend protests. And the weekend Newspoll shows no jump in voter support for anti-war minor parties such as the Greens and the Democrats. However, nervous Government backbenchers are beginning to raise concerns if the UN does not endorse further action. Moderate Liberal MP, Western Australian Judi Moylan, has even suggested that weapons inspectors be given more time to pursue a "non-violent" settlement. Leading political analysts agreed yesterday it was too early to predict whether Iraq would be a vote-changing issue. Veteran pollster and former ALP consultant Rod Cameron said the Government should be concerned with the "quality" of the weekend protestors ? referring to the "family types" involved. "I'd be worried if I was John Howard," Mr Cameron said. "Even if the UN backs a war, I can see only a grudging acceptance of his position. I can't see people embracing it." Former Liberal adviser Greame Morris said Mr Howard was "always aware of, and sensitive to, public opinion but it doesn't count at the moment".