A Poll Rarely Mentioned - Democrats Hurt Troop Morale

While we are bombarded by the dominant media about low poll numbers on President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, we never hear what the people think about the Democrats on this matter. Just because people may give low approval numbers to Bush doesn't translate into support for Democrats. As an example, when I've expressed criticism about Bush, I mentioned that at least he isn't Al Gore or John Kerry. So, it was interesting to see what a recent Cook poll had to say about public perceptions of Democrats, as reported in the Washington Post.

Seventy percent of people surveyed said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale -- with 44 percent saying morale is hurt "a lot," according to a poll taken by RT Strategies. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale, while 21 percent say it helps morale.

...Their poll also indicates many Americans are skeptical of Democratic complaints about the war. Just three of 10 adults accept that Democrats are leveling criticism because they believe this will help U.S. efforts in Iraq. A majority believes the motive is really to "gain a partisan political advantage."

The Cook poll was conducted by RT Strategies, a new polling firm headed by both Democratic and Republican pollsters. This polling service is now included in the commentaries and analyses of Real Clear Politics.

Found at Eu Rota

(Unrelated Poll of Interest on 2008: A different poll by the same firm covers the chances of John McCain and Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential election. You may go to this currently linked commentary covering the results of these questions. One finding of the poll is that forty-two percent believe that Hillary Clinton would be a good candidate for president while fifty-two percent say that she would not. Put me in that last category.)