| Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters Feb. 21-22, 2004 | 55% Say U.S. Should Finish Iraq Mission 36% Say Bring Troops Home ASAP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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February 23,
2004--Fifty-five percent (55%) of American voters say "making sure that Iraq
becomes a peaceful nation enjoying freedom and democracy" is more important
than "getting American troops home as soon as possible." A Rasmussen Reports
survey finds that 36% disagree and want to bring home the troops. Another survey finding helps explain the intensity of Election 2004 and attitudes towards the war with Iraq. Conservatives, by a 4-to-1 margin (65% to 16%), believe that the War with Iraq has made the U.S. a safer place to live. Liberals, by a 3-to-1 margin (58% to 18%) believe that the same War has made the United States a more dangerous place to live. Among all voters, 46% say the War with Iraq has made the U.S. safer while 33% say more dangerous. Those numbers reflect a slight improvement since the beginning of the year. The survey also found that 56% of voters believe the War with Iraq was part of the War on Terrorism while 33% view it as a distraction. Looking back, 63% say it was better to fight the War and remove Hussein than it would have been to avoid the War and leave Hussein in power. Fifty-five percent (55%) of all voters say it is somewhat or very likely that Iraq will become a peaceful nation enjoying freedom and democracy. Forty percent (40%) say such a pleasant outcome is not very likely or not all likely. Among those who say it is very likely that Iraq will enjoy peace, freedom and democracy, 89% want the U.S. to stay. Among those who say it is not at all likely that Iraq will achieve those goals, 83% want to bring the troops home now. Seventy-three percent (73%) of conservatives say it is somewhat or very likely that success will be achieved in Iraq. This optimism is shared by 46% of moderates and 34% of liberals. The ideological divide is found on virtually all questions relating to the War with Iraq. Conservatives, by an 81% to 11% margin, say it was better to fight the War and remove Hussein. Liberals are evenly divided--39% say it was better to fight the War while 44% say it would have been better to avoid War and leave Hussein in power. The national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 21-22, 2004. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. (see Methodology) Rasmussen Reports provides a comprehensive Election 2004 polling service including daily updates of the Presidential Race and economic confidence. |
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