| Survey of 1,000 Adults December 17-18, 2003 | 49% Say Bush Good/Excellent on Iraq Ten Point Gain Since Capture of Saddam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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December 18,
2003--The capture of Saddam Hussein has boosted the public's perception of
both President Bush and the overall situation in Iraq. Forty-nine percent
(49%) of Americans say that President Bush is doing a good or
an excellent job "handling the situation in Iraq." That's up
ten points from a month ago. Fifty percent (50%) of Americans now believe that the situation in Iraq will be better in a year. That's up from 41% a month ago. At the other end of the spectrum, just 23% now believe that things will get worse over the next year in Iraq. That's down from 32% a month ago. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Americans now believe the War with Iraq was part of the larger War on Terror. Just 33% believe it is a distraction from the fight against terrorists. In October, those numbers were 52% and 35% respectively. On all questions concerning Iraq, there are sharp partisan differences. For example, 82% of Republicans give the President a good or excellent rating for his handling of the situation in Iraq. Only 23% of Democrats share that view, along with 45% of those not affiliated with either major party. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Republicans believe things will get better in Iraq over the next year while only 8% think they will get worse. Democrats are divided on this point, with 29% saying things will get better and 37% saying they will get worse. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 43% say the situation will get better while 23% say it will get worse. Forty-three percent (43%) of Americans believe that, in the long run, the War with Iraq will make the United States a safer place to live. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree and say it will make life more dangerous. Again, the partisan divide is evident. Most Democrats (56%) believe that the War will make life more dangerous in the USA. Just 22% of Howard Dean's party believe that the War will improve our safety. Republicans take the opposite view and strongly believe that the War will make life safer for Americans. These findings are from a national telephone survey of 1,500 adults conducted December 17-18, 2003 by Rasmussen Reports (see Methodology). The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. |
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