This is the statement I don't get.
How can anybody who is "familiar" with Islam take a positive view of it, especially if you are not a Muslim.
This is a murderous cult with no redeeming virtues! It seeks to convert by the sword if necessary and has no provision for individual human freedoms.
Well, the statement is a non-sequiter. I'm familiar with it, I'm a Christian. I don't have a more positive view of ISLAM, but do have understand human nature a little and know that some very devout Muslims simply ignore the passages which condone violence and lying. Therefore, a cleverly worded poll question where I tried to give an honest answer MIGHT - though unlikely - make it seem I have a more positive veiw of ISLAM than the average American, simply because poll questions aren't geared toward people who have a specialty in a particular field.
Odds are that since 9/11/01, more and more Americans have been studying Islam just to figure out the mind of the enemy, while trying to keep an open mind. That can and will scew the results of the general poll, because more "average" Americans will have more specialized knowledge.
I guess that depends on what they mean by that statement. If they are familiar with it because they are Muslim that is one thing. If by saying they are familiar with it by way of the media propaganda they have heard, that is quite another.