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Public Opinion on Iraq Unchanged
Aired October 18, 2002 - 13:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A new update from Gallup on Iraq. We have the events of the last week or two, including the congressional vote late last week, made a difference in the public's attitudes.
Frank Newport from our -- our editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll is joining us with some American voices on what they think, whether we're winning the war on terrorism -- what are they saying, Frank?
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Well, Carol, indeed these are interviews we conducted as of last night. We kind of thought, as you mentioned, that more Americans would now say they favored the idea of the Iraq military action because after all, the Congress and the Senate both passed that resolution of authorization last week, but we're finding very little change. These are kind of rock solid attitudes.
This is our question: should the U.S. use military force to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq?
We have been asking it for over a decade now. Last five times we have asked it, 58, 57 percent support, now it is 56 percent. Statistically, basically, this doesn't represent any movement at all, even over the last couple of weeks after all that has gone on. By the way, what's interesting in these numbers, basically are very similar to what we found back, believe it or not, in 1992 when we were asking roughly the same question. These things really haven't changed. The majority, but not a huge majority, of Americans still support the idea.
One thing that has changed a little, Carol, is George W. Bush's job approval rating, and this may be significant. His ratings have been up and down in the 60 percent up to 70 percent a couple of weeks ago. Now they are down to 62 percent as of last night. That's still good, Carol, by historic standards, but that 62 percent job approval is the lowest that George W. Bush has gotten since September 11, 2001.
That could have some implications for the elections up and coming in a couple of weeks. A lot of Republicans are hoping to ride on Bush's coattails in that election -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thank you very much for that snapshot, Frank.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 18, 2002 - 13:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A new update from Gallup on Iraq. We have the events of the last week or two, including the congressional vote late last week, made a difference in the public's attitudes.
Frank Newport from our -- our editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll is joining us with some American voices on what they think, whether we're winning the war on terrorism -- what are they saying, Frank?
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Well, Carol, indeed these are interviews we conducted as of last night. We kind of thought, as you mentioned, that more Americans would now say they favored the idea of the Iraq military action because after all, the Congress and the Senate both passed that resolution of authorization last week, but we're finding very little change. These are kind of rock solid attitudes.
This is our question: should the U.S. use military force to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq?
We have been asking it for over a decade now. Last five times we have asked it, 58, 57 percent support, now it is 56 percent. Statistically, basically, this doesn't represent any movement at all, even over the last couple of weeks after all that has gone on. By the way, what's interesting in these numbers, basically are very similar to what we found back, believe it or not, in 1992 when we were asking roughly the same question. These things really haven't changed. The majority, but not a huge majority, of Americans still support the idea.
One thing that has changed a little, Carol, is George W. Bush's job approval rating, and this may be significant. His ratings have been up and down in the 60 percent up to 70 percent a couple of weeks ago. Now they are down to 62 percent as of last night. That's still good, Carol, by historic standards, but that 62 percent job approval is the lowest that George W. Bush has gotten since September 11, 2001.
That could have some implications for the elections up and coming in a couple of weeks. A lot of Republicans are hoping to ride on Bush's coattails in that election -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thank you very much for that snapshot, Frank.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
