March 19, 2003
The Context of Public Opinion
As the City of Portland gears up for antiwar demonstrations, it's useful to have a sense of what Portland residents think of the war. Understanding that polls are curious beasts, here is a new one from KATU:
Sixty-seven percent say they support US military action in Iraq; 26-perecent oppose it, and seven percent said they were unsure.
The exclusive KATU poll conducted by Survey USA also found that 50-percent of adults in Portland say world leaders do not respect US President George W. Bush; 39- percent say Bush is respected.
The poll of 500 people also found that 56-percent say they approve of the way Bush is handling Iraq; 37- percent disapprove, and eight percent said they were not sure how the President is handling the Iraq crisis.
Lastly, 80-percent say giving Saddam Hussein more time to disarm would not result in a peaceful settlement in the Persian Gulf, but would just delay an inevitable war.
That last one is a good example of the weaknesses of polls as conveyors of deep information. Some respondents probably answered that way because, despite believing in giving more time for inspections, they were fairly certain that the Bush Administration was going to war no matter what.
At any rate, if the poll numbers present an accurate depiction of public opinion in Portland, then they offer a look at the context in which the coming protests will be taking place, and perhaps a sense at the level of patience Portland residents might or might not have.
Comments (1)
Emma on 19 Mar 2003
Yeah, polls are unreliable these days. They're particularly unreliable at uncovering complex feelings about something--which the public clearly has about this war.
A better guage is the tens of thousands who march against it versus the 200 who marched for it. Or the running tally of letters to the editor at the Oregonian--which is something like 90% against the war.