Wise Young
04-08-2003, 12:20 AM
Source (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/World/iraq_poll030407.html)
Partisan Opinions
Sharp Divisions in Intensity Lie Beneath Broad Support for War
Analysis
By Gary Langer
April 7 - While the war in Iraq continues to command support from a solid majority of Americans, beneath the surface remain sharp divisions in intensity - gaps as big as 60 percentage points between population groups most supportive of the war, and those less so, according to a new ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll.
At 99 percent, conservative Republicans almost unanimously support the conflict, while barely more than half of liberal Democrats agree. Whites remain more supportive than nonwhites - largely, though not exclusively, because they're more apt to be Republicans. And there are divisions between the sexes. Women who classify themselves as political independents are 15 points less likely than independent men to support the war. And "strong" support for the war is notably low - 28 percent - among Democratic women.
In the aggregate, though, support for the war remains high - 77 percent in this ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll, a new high numerically although not statistically different from its level last week, 73 percent. Fifty-seven percent support the war "strongly."
Support for the War
Support the war in Iraq
4/3/03 73%
Now 77%
Most younger adults - 67 percent - support the war. But "strong" support in this group (18- to 25-year-olds), at 40 percent, is a good bit lower than it is among their elders.
Partisanship and ideology continue by far to be the biggest source of division in opinion on the war. In probably the biggest gap, barely over a quarter of liberal Democrats "strongly" support the war, compared to 88 percent of conservative Republicans.
Views of the 1991 Gulf War also were highly partisan. An ABCNEWS/Post poll completed 20 days after that war began found a 22-point gap between Republicans and Democrats in their support for the war. In this poll, completed with the war 18 days old, it's 30 points.
A Personal Matter
Sampling, data collection and tabulation for this poll were done by TNS Intersearch.
Another result finds that for millions of Americans, the war in Iraq is a personal affair - 29 percent say they have a friend or loved one serving in the conflict as a member of the U.S. armed forces.
That's especially true among younger adults - 41 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds have a friend or relative serving, compared to just 14 percent of retirement-age Americans.
But having a friend of family member in the war does not significantly impact support for the conflict. The war's supported by 79 percent of people who know someone who's serving - and by 76 percent of those who don't.
Partisan Opinions
Sharp Divisions in Intensity Lie Beneath Broad Support for War
Analysis
By Gary Langer
April 7 - While the war in Iraq continues to command support from a solid majority of Americans, beneath the surface remain sharp divisions in intensity - gaps as big as 60 percentage points between population groups most supportive of the war, and those less so, according to a new ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll.
At 99 percent, conservative Republicans almost unanimously support the conflict, while barely more than half of liberal Democrats agree. Whites remain more supportive than nonwhites - largely, though not exclusively, because they're more apt to be Republicans. And there are divisions between the sexes. Women who classify themselves as political independents are 15 points less likely than independent men to support the war. And "strong" support for the war is notably low - 28 percent - among Democratic women.
In the aggregate, though, support for the war remains high - 77 percent in this ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll, a new high numerically although not statistically different from its level last week, 73 percent. Fifty-seven percent support the war "strongly."
Support for the War
Support the war in Iraq
4/3/03 73%
Now 77%
Most younger adults - 67 percent - support the war. But "strong" support in this group (18- to 25-year-olds), at 40 percent, is a good bit lower than it is among their elders.
Partisanship and ideology continue by far to be the biggest source of division in opinion on the war. In probably the biggest gap, barely over a quarter of liberal Democrats "strongly" support the war, compared to 88 percent of conservative Republicans.
Views of the 1991 Gulf War also were highly partisan. An ABCNEWS/Post poll completed 20 days after that war began found a 22-point gap between Republicans and Democrats in their support for the war. In this poll, completed with the war 18 days old, it's 30 points.
A Personal Matter
Sampling, data collection and tabulation for this poll were done by TNS Intersearch.
Another result finds that for millions of Americans, the war in Iraq is a personal affair - 29 percent say they have a friend or loved one serving in the conflict as a member of the U.S. armed forces.
That's especially true among younger adults - 41 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds have a friend or relative serving, compared to just 14 percent of retirement-age Americans.
But having a friend of family member in the war does not significantly impact support for the conflict. The war's supported by 79 percent of people who know someone who's serving - and by 76 percent of those who don't.