A majority of South Carolinians disapprove of President Bush s handling of the war in Iraq, yet a smaller majority says the country should not set a timetable for withdrawal, a new Winthrop/ETV poll finds.
The poll of registered voters suggests that South Carolinians are critical and wary of the bloody conflict but respectful of military leaders judgment and unwilling to abandon the effort.
A slim majority, 50.
7 percent, believe that the war in Iraq has created additional threats to national security.
More voters approve of Bush s handling of the war in Afghanistan, although it s not a majority. About 45 percent of those polled said they approved of how the president has managed that war, compared to 41 percent who said they disapproved.
When the responses are separated by party affiliation, divergent trends appear:
While a majority of the state as a whole disapproves of the president s handling of the war in Iraq, more than 62 percent of Republicans approve of it.
Independents meanwhile, are evenly split, with about 44 percent approving and 44 percent disapproving.
Democrats, however, are almost unanimous: They profoundly disapprove of how the White House is running the war.
Ninety-one percent of S.C. Democrats disapprove.
Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon, who led the school s research that created the poll, said the state seems caught in a conundrum: A majority opposes how the war is being handled, but a majority rejects timetables for withdrawal.
That may be a little of the Southern deference to the military, said Huffmon, who grew up outside Fort Bragg, N.C.
It s people saying, I don t like how the war is going, but I m not going to tell the military how to run the war.
That captures the feelings of Ida Money, 68, a Chesterfield County retiree who considers herself an independent when it comes to politics.
She believes Bush could be doing a better job on the war, but he needs help.
(And) I don t believe in pulling all them people out all of a sudden.
I would like to see it come to a good end, and I mean the sooner the better, Money said. But we re in there, and we need to stay until the end.
The split between Republicans and Democrats on the war is deep, Huffmon said.
While nearly two-thirds of Republicans support Bush s handling of the war, Huffmon said that represents the Republican faithful.
They feel like their leader is under siege on this issue, Huffmon said.
Basically it s faith in our commander in chief and that s what we re going to do. It s I m not going to voice dissent.
Democratic resolve is stronger, however.
Not only do 91 percent of them disapprove of the president s work in Iraq, almost three-fourths of Democrats believe the country should set a timetable for withdrawal, compared to one in four of Republicans.
And those who want out? Thirty-eight percent said it should happen within six months, the highest percentage for any timeframe.
Democrats are clear, Huffmon said: They re saying, Let s get out now. This is a failed policy. And that s in line with the national Democratic Party.
There also are puzzles in the numbers. Fifty-seven percent of Republicans said the war in Iraq has made the country safer, which is a smaller majority than approved of the president s handling of that war.
But Huffmon said that sounds like pragmatism.
It may be, Hey, you want to make an omelet, you have to break some eggs, Huffmon said. Maybe they think it s going to make us safer in the long term.
As for the impact on the 2008 presidential race in South Carolina, Huffmon said candidates in both the Democratic and Republican primaries should study the poll results from independents carefully.
Those voters who claim no allegiance to either party make up a third of the electorate they are the crown jewel for candidates, Huffmon said and they are completely divided on the president s handling of the war.
While those independents can typically be counted on to vote Republican more often than Democrat, Huffmon said they might just look for a Republican candidate with the most distance between himself and President Bush on the war.
They might tend to do what they were going to do anyway, and vote in the Republican primary, but if they do it in like numbers, it might be the least Bush-like person on the war who gets their vote, Huffmon said.
The Republican candidates for president are nearly unanimous in their support for the war, and all reject timetables for withdrawal. Democrats, conversely, are unified in opposition to the war, and most support some timetable to get U.S.
troops out.
But there are nuances on both sides, and voters appear ready to dive in and explore those subtleties.
Reach Gould Sheinin at (803) 771-8658.
Winthrop University s Social and Behavioral Research Lab, in partnership with ETV, conducted the telephone poll of 670 randomly selected, registered S.C. voters May 16-27.
The sample was 82 percent white, 17 percent non-white.
Fifty-six percent of the sample was female, 44 percent male.
The breakdown of the sample by party was: 39.
8 percent Republican; 25.1 percent Democrat; 32.7 percent independent.
The margin of error ranges from plus or minus 3.79 percent to 6.01 percent.
Calls were placed between 4 and 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 9 a.
m. to 9 p.m.
Saturdays; and 1 to 8 p.m. Sundays.
The poll is the first of four surveys of South Carolinians that Winthrop and ETV will conduct over the next year.
Do you approve or disapprove of George W. Bush s handling of the war in Iraq?
News RSS