The patriotism police at Hugh Hewitt’s site and Red State are all tied up in a knot about these Fox News poll results:
Do you personally want the Iraq plan President Bush announced last week to succeed?
Overall: 63% Yes 22% No 15% Don’t Know
Democrats: 51% Yes 34% No 15% Don’t Know
Republicans: 79% Yes 11% No 10% Don’t Know
Independents 63% Yes 19% No 17% Don’t Know
Dena Barnett laments:
Friends, I’ll allow you a minute to wrap your minds around this, for we are truly through the looking class. Even though we have some 150,000 troops in harm’s way and we universally profess to “support the troops,” over 1/3 of our society either wants them to fail or doesn’t know if they want them to succeed. Even more chilling are the results regarding our currently dominant political party. 49% of Democrats either want us to lose in Iraq or “don’t know” if they want us to succeed.
I would love to hear why losing in Iraq would be in the national interest. And I would love to hear the humanitarian justification for leaving Baghdad’s civilians to the tender mercies of the murderous militias and terrorists that stalk that city.
And I would also love to hear Democratic leaders respond to these poll numbers. But I won’t hold my breath.
Good. I don’t think you can handle any oxygen deprivation. But why should just Democratic leaders respond? At any rate, Red State sees a silver lining with the results:
I don’t know how much more obvious they can make their desire for America to be defeated in Iraq. Can we question their patriotism yet?
Yet? As if anything has been holding you all back there for the past few years.
My thoughts on the poll? First, I don’t trust anything released by Fox News. Anything. I wouldn’t trust their weather reports. They pay Bill O’Reilly, for chrissakes. Second, I am willing to bet that most people who responded “No,” actually were responding that they hope Bush;s plan is not implemented. I have serious doubts that half the country (including 20% of Republicans) wants us to lose the war or doesn’t know if they want us to win.
Until a more rputable firm with a clearer question releases the poll, I will treat this as silliness.