[Gallup] Update: American Public Opinion and Iraq

Gallup News Service ^ | August 12, 2004 | Frank Newport

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No majority consensus on what should be done now in Iraq

PRINCETON, NJ -- An analysis of recent polling data shows that Americans remain divided on the issue of Iraq, and that so far, there is no clear indication of how the issue is going to affect the presidential election. Four basic conclusions can be drawn from the data: 1) President George W. Bush is vulnerable on the issue of Iraq; 2) Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is no better positioned on Iraq than Bush; 3) the public is divided about whether going to war in Iraq in the first place was the correct thing to do; 4) the public lacks consensus over what should be done now in Iraq.

1. Bush is vulnerable on Iraq.

Bush's job approval rating for handling Iraq has been below 50% since April of this year. Gallup's latest job approval rating for Bush on Iraq, from late June, was 42%. A TIME magazine poll released this past weekend gave Bush a 45% job approval rating on handling Iraq.

Americans are also not convinced that Bush has a clear plan on how to deal with Iraq. A July 30-Aug. 1 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that only 42% of Americans believe that Bush has a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, while a majority, 56%, believe that he does not.

2. Kerry does not have any perceptual advantage over Bush on Iraq.

Kerry has been unable to clearly differentiate himself from Bush on Iraq at this point 

Only 38% of Americans say that Kerry has a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, slightly lower than the percentage who believe that Bush has a clear plan. A slight majority, 52%, says that Kerry does not have a clear plan......

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