Major poll.

Tom,

You might want to question your poll...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Public confidence in President Bush's ability to fight terrorism has significantly eroded, in a challenge to his re-election campaign as a "war president," according to a poll released on Monday.
The ABC News/Washington Post poll also found, for the first time, that more than half of Americans believe the Iraq war was not worth fighting.

The poll's findings could spell trouble for Bush, whose ratings in the anti-terrorism fight have been one of his strongest suits as he seeks re-election on a national-security platform.

The poll said that approval of Bush's handling of the U.S. campaign against terrorism had fallen to 50 percent, down 8 points in the last month and 29 points below its post Iraq-war peak.

"Bush ... has weakened in his once-strongest area," ABC said in reporting the poll on its Web site. (http://abcnews.go.com)

In addition, Americans now rate Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry level with Bush in ability to combat terrorism. Bush had led Kerry by 13 percentage points on the issue a month ago, and by 21 points the month before, but the new poll showed Kerry with 48 points to Bush's 47 points.

However, the poll also found that Americans continued to pick Bush over Kerry as someone who could make the country more secure.

The poll was taken June 17-20. This was after a week in which the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks revealed shortcomings in the U.S. response and cast doubt on administration assertions of close ties between prewar Iraq and the al Qaeda militant network responsible for the attacks.

It also came as Americans reacted to the abduction and beheading of U.S. contractor Paul Johnson in Saudi Arabia, purportedly by al Qaeda. ABC said Bush's approval rating on terrorism declined among those surveyed after the slaying.

Amid rising disenchantment with the war in Iraq, the poll said 52 percent of those surveyed said the war was not worth fighting, and seven in 10 called U.S. casualties there "unacceptable."

"At this point it's hard to see Iraq as anything but a net negative politically for the Bush administration," ABC said.

In a head-to-head comparison on terrorism concerns, the public by a 14-point margin picked Bush over Kerry to keep the nation "safer and more secure." Only four in 10 polled said Kerry had a "clear plan" on terrorism, lagging behind Bush.

"I'm a war president," Bush said in a television interview in February. "The American people need to know they (have) got a president who sees the world the way it is."

Rating Bush's overall job performance, 47 percent of Americans approved while 51 percent disapproved, inching over the halfway-mark for the first time in ABC/Post polls going back to December 2001. An approval rating below 50 percent is considered a danger sign for presidents seeking re-election.

In match-ups among registered voters, Kerry had a narrow lead of 48 percent to Bush's 44 percent in a three-man race including Ralph Nader. Kerry had 53 percent to Bush's 45 percent in a two-man contest, the poll said.

The poll surveyed 1,201 adults and has an error margin of 3 points.
 
Quoting the same news source that refuses to use the word 'terrorist' in its stories.

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/reuters.htm

http://about.reuters.com/aboutus/editorial/
Why don't you describe terrorists as terrorists?


As part of a long-standing policy to avoid the use of emotive words, we do not use terms like 'terrorist' and 'freedom fighter' unless they are in a direct quote or are otherwise attributable to a third party. We do not characterize the subjects of news stories but instead report their actions, identity and background so that readers can make their own decisions based on the facts.
 
I went to the abc link, searched on polls, a clinton poll came up, how to make polls come up. I didn't see anything like your post Elkgunner.

The Pew Research poll is quite thorough, and recent, and the source can be checked.

Your post is undocumented, hence, pretty much, garbage information, as it can't be checked out.
Unless you have a better link for it, you're just multiplying the garbage on the forum here.
 
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