When Opinion Polls Attack
By Frank Salvato (02/23/07)
Unless you are a politician or a network news anchor, opinion polls tend to be supplemental to the news. Very seldom are they actually grist for a news item. But two independent polls taken between February 5th and February 11th shed light on the public’s true sentiments where the issue of the Iraqi conflict is concerned. These opinion polls directly refute the contentions of the anti-war members of congress.
All too often special interest groups, the agenda-driven mainstream media and opportunistic politicians commission public opinion polls to, as they say, ascertain the pulse of American sentiment regarding important issues facing our nation. The problem with most of these opinion polls is that the questions and answers are constructed in such a way as to pre-determine the outcome of the poll. These polls – these manufactured polls – are useless where objectivity is concerned and are of little value to anyone but those who commissioned them.
So, when I came across a poll by the Virginia-based Public Opinion Strategies (POS) company that featured direct and straight-forward questions on the subject of the Iraqi conflict, I took notice of the results. That POS was awarded the distinction of being named Pollster of the Year for 2002 and evaluated as having had the best win-loss record among all the media polling firms during the 2004 election added to their credibility, as far as I was concerned.
The results of POS’s opinion poll were surprising to say the least.
In a survey of a bi-partisan cross-section of 800 registered voters POS found that not only do Americans want to win in Iraq they believe the Iraqi battlefield to be the central battlefield in the War on Terror.
57% of those polled agreed with the statement, “I support finishing the job in Iraq, that is, keeping the troops there until the Iraqi government can maintain control and provide security for their people.”
This response stands in stark contrast to the shrieks of “redeploy” and “troops out now” that we are hearing from the newly elected majority in Congress. To listen to John Murtha and Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Teddy “A Bridge Too Far” Kennedy, one would be led to believe that an overwhelming majority of Americans want our troops to be withdrawn, redeployed, removed immediately. It would seem that their contentions are based in emotion and an unpopular ideology rather than fact.
Equally as stunning was the response of those polled to the question of whether Iraq was a key part of the overall global war on terrorism. Again, 57% of those polled believed that Iraq was central to the War on Terrorism and our struggle against global Islamofascist aggression.
And again, this poll result flies in the face of the anti-war Progressive-Left now holding Congress hostage. The overwhelming consensus held by those of the “Church of San Francisco Values” is that the conflict in Iraq has nothing to do with the War on Terror. In fact, at one time or another, each of the anti-war/anti-Bush choir members has touted the sentiment that the real battlefield was in Afghanistan, not Iraq. It would seem the American public disagrees.
Additional results from the POS poll that should make Teddy Kennedy’s face a bit redder than it already is are:
▪ 53% believe the Democrats are going too far in pressing the president to withdraw troops.
▪ 56% believe that even if they harbor concerns about the president’s policies that Americans should stand behind the president in Iraq because we are at war.
▪ 59% believe that it would hurt American prestige more to pull out of Iraq immediately than it would to stay there for the long term, until the job was finished successfully.
Backing-up the POS results was an independently conducted poll published in Investor’s Business Daily by IBO/TIPP that calculated data from 925 adults from February 5th through February 11th. This poll concluded:
▪ 66% believe that a US victory in Iraq was either very important or somewhat important.
▪ 58% said they were either very hopeful or somewhat hopeful that the US will succeed in its mission in Iraq.
When this poll was broken-down by party affiliation it was found that 53% of Democrats, 85% of Republicans and 63% of Independents feel that winning in Iraq is important. When the issue of successfully completing the mission was addressed, 43% of Democrats, 80% of Republicans and 53% of Independents feel that the US could succeed.
The results from both of these polls validate the notion that the anti-war, anti-Bush, redeploy, quagmire crowd is very much in the minority among the US citizenry confirming what I have been contending all along, that the over-modulating rhetoric of the radical left that preaches US impotency in Iraq and the war against Islamofascist aggression is emanating from a very few malcontents who just happen to have a very loud “bullhorn” bought by deep pocketed, special interest megalomaniacs like George Soros and Peter Lewis.
These polls further bear out the idea that the American public has and employs the wherewithal to research issues, formulate opinions and pretty much think for themselves when it comes to important issues of the day. This should come as very disturbing news to the agenda-driven mainstream media and the unwashed special interest groups of the one-world, anti-war, Progressive-Left.
Bravo, America! Just when I was getting depressed and frustrated with the “apathy epidemic” you clear your throat and say your piece.
Now, if you will all join me in a rousing chorus of “Hell no! We won’t go!” for Madam Pelosi…
Related Reading:
Public Opinion Strategies
www.pos.org
Americans Want to Win in Iraq
http://www.moriahgroup.com/downloads/IRAQPOLLNEWSRELEASE22007.pdf
Unparalleled Perfidy
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=256522262721962
Copyright © 2007 Frank Salvato
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