| Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters January 6-7, 2004 | 63% Say War in Iraq Worth Fighting 44% Say it Will Make USA Safer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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January 9,
2004--Looking back, 63% of American voters say that fighting the War in
Iraq was the right thing to do. Only 25% say it would have been better
to avoid the War and leave Saddam Hussein in power. A Rasmussen Reports survey also found that 44% of Americans believe that, in the long run, the War with Iraq will make the United States a safer place to live. Thirty-six percent (36%) say it will make life in the USA more dangerous. Investors take a more optimistic view--52% say that the War in Iraq will make the US safer, while only 32% take the opposite view. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of all likely voters say that the fighting in Iraq was part of the War on Terrorism while 33% viewed the War as a distraction from the fight against terrorists. This question divides Democrats with 40% of Howard Dean's party saying that Iraq was part of the broader War while 49% said it was a distraction. Americans are also fairly optimistic about prospects for establishing democracy in Iraq. Sixty-two percent (62%) of Americans say such an outcome is somewhat or very likely. Thirty-five percent (35%) disagree. The national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports January 6 and 7, 2004. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. (see Methodology) Last month, the capture of Saddam Hussein boosted the public's perception of how President Bush is handling the situation in Iraq. Those gains have held. Forty-nine percent (49%) of Americans continue to say that President Bush is doing a good or an excellent job on this front. That is unchanged from a survey conducted shortly after the former dictator was captured. Democratic Presidential Candidate Howard Dean caused quite a stir recently by saying that the United States is no safer since the capture of Saddam Hussein. Forty-four percent (44%) of American voters disagree with Dean and say the capture of Hussein did make us safer. Forty-one percent (41%) disagree and say that capturing Hussein did not accomplish that goal. Overall, when it comes to matters of national defense and the War on Terrorism, 56% of American voters say they trust Bush more than Dean. One third (33%) trust Dean more. Republicans trust Bush more, by an 86% to 10% margin. Democrats trust Dean more, by a 58% to 28% margin. Those unaffiliated with either major party prefer Bush two-to one (54% to 27%). |
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