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America's Voices: Does Saddam's Capture Change Feelings About the War?
Aired December 15, 2003 - 14:40 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's one of those stories that dominates our coverage and all of our conversations. Americans were losing patience with the war in Iraq, but now that Hussein is out of his hole, are they seeing things a little bit differently?
Gallup Poll editor Frank Newport is live now from Princeton, New Jersey with results of a brand new poll. Hello, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Hello, Miles. Indeed we were out after the announcement of course yesterday finding out Americans' immediate reaction.
Eighty percent-plus say that it is a major achievement, the U.S., no question about that. But we're not seeing seismic shifts, that's how I would phrase it, in American public opinion, at least so far. Americans are fairly cautious now.
Was the situation in Iraq worth going to war over? We've tracked that for a number of months now. You see the December 5 to 7 number, 59 percent. Yesterday 62. Statistically, no change at all. So we're not seeing an immediate uptick in support for the idea war. It's already fairly high, above 50 percent.
Now, the president yesterday said be cautious, be patient, there will continue to be attacks on Americans, even after Saddam Hussein's capture. Sure enough, the public agrees.
We asked what the impact's going to be on U.S. combat deaths. Look at the bottom two rows there. Forty-one percent say a minor drop, and 26 percent no change at all. You put those together, you're up to two thirds of Americans who say really not much change at all in terms of the probability that unfortunately there will be continuing attacks on American troops.
Politically speaking, everybody loves politics, of course in an election year. Nobody wants to admit that this is going to change their votes. Three percent say that they weren't voting for Bush, now they are going to because of this. The rest of them, 45 percent said they were already voting for Bush. Forty-three percent said they're voting for the Democrat and it's not changing their minds.
So, Miles, at least initially the public says it's not such an event that it's going to change their vote for president next year. But a the love things can change.
O'BRIEN: Well, that'll be one to track for sure.
What about the death penalty? One of the big reasons Iraqis want to keep Saddam Hussein in Iraq is that they ultimately would like to, if he's ultimately found guilty by their court system there, as it emerges, put to death. Do Americans have an opinion on that?
NEWPORT: Well, they do. As you may know, miles, we talked about it on CNN many times previously. The majority of Americans support the death penalty in this country for a convicted murderer.
So sure enough, they support the death penalty for Saddam Hussein. Given these two choices, six out of ten essentially say, Yes, death penalty for Saddam Hussein. Thirty-seven percent say life imprisonment, no chance of parole.
That's roughly what we find when we ask the same question about a convicted murderer here in the U.S.
O'BRIEN: That's interesting. So I guess it doesn't matter who the suspect is.
Frank Newport, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
About the War?>
Aired December 15, 2003 - 14:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's one of those stories that dominates our coverage and all of our conversations. Americans were losing patience with the war in Iraq, but now that Hussein is out of his hole, are they seeing things a little bit differently?
Gallup Poll editor Frank Newport is live now from Princeton, New Jersey with results of a brand new poll. Hello, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: Hello, Miles. Indeed we were out after the announcement of course yesterday finding out Americans' immediate reaction.
Eighty percent-plus say that it is a major achievement, the U.S., no question about that. But we're not seeing seismic shifts, that's how I would phrase it, in American public opinion, at least so far. Americans are fairly cautious now.
Was the situation in Iraq worth going to war over? We've tracked that for a number of months now. You see the December 5 to 7 number, 59 percent. Yesterday 62. Statistically, no change at all. So we're not seeing an immediate uptick in support for the idea war. It's already fairly high, above 50 percent.
Now, the president yesterday said be cautious, be patient, there will continue to be attacks on Americans, even after Saddam Hussein's capture. Sure enough, the public agrees.
We asked what the impact's going to be on U.S. combat deaths. Look at the bottom two rows there. Forty-one percent say a minor drop, and 26 percent no change at all. You put those together, you're up to two thirds of Americans who say really not much change at all in terms of the probability that unfortunately there will be continuing attacks on American troops.
Politically speaking, everybody loves politics, of course in an election year. Nobody wants to admit that this is going to change their votes. Three percent say that they weren't voting for Bush, now they are going to because of this. The rest of them, 45 percent said they were already voting for Bush. Forty-three percent said they're voting for the Democrat and it's not changing their minds.
So, Miles, at least initially the public says it's not such an event that it's going to change their vote for president next year. But a the love things can change.
O'BRIEN: Well, that'll be one to track for sure.
What about the death penalty? One of the big reasons Iraqis want to keep Saddam Hussein in Iraq is that they ultimately would like to, if he's ultimately found guilty by their court system there, as it emerges, put to death. Do Americans have an opinion on that?
NEWPORT: Well, they do. As you may know, miles, we talked about it on CNN many times previously. The majority of Americans support the death penalty in this country for a convicted murderer.
So sure enough, they support the death penalty for Saddam Hussein. Given these two choices, six out of ten essentially say, Yes, death penalty for Saddam Hussein. Thirty-seven percent say life imprisonment, no chance of parole.
That's roughly what we find when we ask the same question about a convicted murderer here in the U.S.
O'BRIEN: That's interesting. So I guess it doesn't matter who the suspect is.
Frank Newport, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
About the War?>
