On Special Report, Jeffrey Birnbaum baselessly asserted that “if you compare Americans' view of the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism this Fourth of July compared to last Fourth of July, the president and his policies are in a much better position.” However, polling shows otherwise.
Birnbaum asserted that Americans have higher opinion of Bush's Iraq and terrorism policies than a year ago; polling shows otherwise
Written by Raphael Schweber-Koren
Published
During the “All-Star Panel” segment on the July 4 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, Washington Post staff writer Jeffrey Birnbaum baselessly asserted: “I don't think there's any question ... but if you compare Americans' view of the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism this Fourth of July compared to last Fourth of July, the president and his policies are in a much better position.” However, polling does not support Birnbaum's assertion. Compared with a year ago, polls show that President Bush's approval ratings regarding the Iraq war have declined, while the percentage of Americans who believe progress has been made in Iraq have gone up minimally. Moreover, while slightly more Americans think the United States and its allies (as opposed to “neither side” or “terrorists”) are “winning the war against terrorism,” Bush's approval ratings on that issue have remained stagnant over the same one-year period.
President Bush's approval ratings on Iraq
|
(margin of error: +/- 4.5) |
||
|
6/25/2006 |
6/26/2005 |
|
|
Approve |
37 |
43 |
|
Disapprove |
62 |
56 |
|
Pew (+/- 3) |
||
|
6/19/2006 |
7/17/2005 |
|
|
Approve |
35 |
35 |
|
Disapprove |
57 |
57 |
|
Gallup (+/- 3) |
||
|
6/11/06 |
6/26/2005 |
|
|
Approve |
36 |
40 |
|
Disapprove |
60 |
58 |
|
NBC / Wall Street Journal (+/- 3.1) |
||
|
6/12/2006 |
7/11/2005 |
|
|
Approve |
35 |
39 |
|
Disapprove |
61 |
55 |
President Bush's approval ratings on terrorism
|
ABC / Washington Post (+/- 4.5) |
||
|
6/25/2006 |
6/05/2005 |
|
|
Approve |
51 |
50 |
|
Disapprove |
47 |
49 |
|
Pew (+/- 4) |
||
|
6/19/2006 |
July 2005 |
|
|
Approve |
47 |
49 |
|
Disapprove |
41 |
40 |
|
Gallup (+/- 3) |
||
|
6/11/2006 |
6/26/2005 |
|
|
Approve |
51 |
55 |
|
Disapprove |
44 |
41 |
|
CBS |
||
|
6/11/2006 |
8/02/2005 |
|
|
Approve |
47 |
55 |
|
Disapprove |
46 |
39 |
Americans' view of the war in Iraq
ABC/Washington Post (+/- 4.5): “Do you think the United States is or is not making significant progress toward restoring civil order in Iraq?”
|
6/25/2006 |
6/26/2005 |
|
|
Yes |
48 |
48 |
|
No |
49 |
51 |
ABC/Washington Post (+/- 4.5): “How confident are you that Iraq will have a stable, democratic government a year from now -- very confident, somewhat confident, not too confident or not confident at all?”
|
6/25/2006 |
6/26/2005 |
|
|
Very confident |
3 |
6 |
|
Somewhat confident |
36 |
34 |
|
Not too confident |
30 |
33 |
|
Not confident at all |
29 |
27 |
Pew Research Center for People and the Press (+/- 3): “How well is the U.S. military effort in Iraq going ... ?”
|
6/19/2006 |
July, 2005 |
|
|
Very well |
16 |
14 |
|
Fairly well |
37 |
38 |
|
Not too well |
25 |
27 |
|
Not at all well |
18 |
17 |
Gallup (+/- 3): “In general, how would you say things are going for the U.S. in Iraq?”
|
6/11/2006 |
8/7/2005 |
|
|
Very well |
8 |
5 |
|
Moderately well |
39 |
38 |
|
Moderately badly |
30 |
28 |
|
Very badly |
23 |
28 |
NBC News/Wall Street Journal (+/- 4.4): “And do you feel more confident or less confident that the war in Iraq will come to a successful conclusion?”
|
6/12/2006 |
7/11/2005 |
|
|
More confident |
38 |
36 |
|
Less confident |
53 |
55 |
Americans' view of the war on terrorism
Gallup (+/- 3): “Who do you think is winning the war against terrorism: the U.S. and its allies, neither side, or the terrorists?”
|
6/11/2006 |
7/11/2005 |
|
|
U.S. and its allies |
38 |
34 |
|
Neither side |
41 |
44 |
|
The terrorists |
16 |
21 |
CBS News/New York Times (+/- 4): “Who do you think is currently winning the war against terrorism: the United States and its allies, neither side, or the terrorists?”
|
6/11/2006 |
8/2/2005 |
|
|
U.S. and its allies |
43 |
40 |
|
Neither side |
42 |
38 |
|
The terrorists |
11 |
17 |
From the July 4 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:
BIRNBAUM: I don't think there's any question, that -- but if you compare Americans' view of the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism this Fourth of July compared to last Fourth of July, the president and his policies are in a much better position, and that, I think, is worth talking an extra 15 minutes on the Fourth of July.
SAMMON: He even talked about it. A year ago today, the Iraqis didn't have a government -- you know, a permanent government -- they didn't have a prime minister; they didn't have a lot of things. And if you look at the progress that's been made in 12 months, it's quite dramatic.
BRIAN WILSON (guest host): All right, that's it for the panel.