At home, he faces declining confidence in U.S. counterterrorism efforts; and on the war front, growing demands for Osama bin Laden's head, combined with tepid support for a high-casualty ground war.
As Bush prepares to address the nation on homeland security tonight, the number of Americans saying the U.S. is doing all it reasonably can to prevent terrorist attacks has declined by 12 points, to 56 percent, from 68 percent in mid-October.
Confidence that further terrorism can be prevented also has declined, by 14 points, and now stands at a slim majority, 52 percent. Just 17 percent express a "great deal" of confidence the government can prevent more attacks, half its level the night of Sept. 11.
Two factors may be responsible: First, the fact that authorities have made no reported progress in identifying those responsible for the anthrax letters; and second, the recent government warnings of credible information that another attack may be imminent, without details as to where, when, how or by whom.
Preventing Terror
|
|
Now |
Then |
| U.S. doing
all it can to deter terrorism |
56% |
68% (Oct.
15) |
| Confident
that terrorism can be prevented |
52% |
66% (Sept.
11) |
|
|
High Expectations, But Less Support for a Long War
On the war front, the public sets a high standard for performance, saying by 2-1 that the campaign in Afghanistan will not be a success unless the United States captures or kills Osama bin Laden. And while 71 percent say they'd support using "a significant number" of ground troops in Afghanistan, that declines to 52 percent "if it meant getting into a long war with large numbers of U.S. troops killed or injured."
Polling isn't predictive, however; people evaluate and respond to actual events. Tepid support for a ground war with many U.S. casualties could stem, for instance, simply from a view that a high level of casualties should be avoidable.
Country Still Backs Bush
Whatever the challenges, Americans remain almost uniformly united behind Bush and the U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan.
Bush's job approval rating stands at 89 percent, near the record 92 percent he set in an ABCNEWS poll on Oct. 9. (That was the highest for any president in ABCNEWS polls, or Gallup polls before them, dating to 1938.) The number supporting Bush "strongly" has declined by 11 points, though it's still a sizable majority, 65 percent. The decline in strong support has occurred mainly among Democrats.
Support for the U.S. military action in Afghanistan also remains broad and deep: Ninety percent support the military action, 75 percent "strongly." Eighty-five percent also say it's going well, although this view isn't nearly as firm — only 23 percent say it's going "very well," 62 percent "fairly well."
These views could worsen if bin Laden continues to prove elusive. Sixty-four percent say he must be killed or captured for the war on terrorism to be a success; only 30 percent think it can be a success otherwise.
Nearly three-quarters are confident this goal will be met, down slightly since Sept 27. Again, though, just 28 percent are "very confident" bin Laden will be killed or captured; 45 percent are "somewhat" confident.
Most ‘Satisfied’ With Government Response
Though confidence in the government's ability to prevent terrorism has decreased, the Bush administration gets good marks for the information it's providing, even if there's room for improvement.
About eight in 10 are satisfied with the job the administration is doing providing reliable information on the risk of further terrorism in the United States, the anthrax situation and the military campaign in Afghanistan. But it could be better — on all of these, fewer than half say they're "very" satisfied.
Eight in 10 are also satisfied with how the federal government has been handling the anthrax situation, including 35 percent who are "very" satisfied. This is unchanged in the last two weeks. (No new Anthrax cases have been identified in recent days.)
Reliable information
on... |
|
"Satisfied" |
"Very
satisfied" |
| Military
campaign in Afghanistan |
84% |
46% |
| The anthrax
situation |
80% |
42% |
| Risk
of further terrorism |
80% |
41% |
|
|
Personal concern about terrorism also remains in check. Only 10 percent are worried a "great deal" that they personally will be a victim of an attack; another quarter are worried "somewhat."
High Marks for Economic Policy, But Not Airport Security
The public's closing of the ranks around the president reaches even to his work on the troubled economy: Seventy-two percent now approve of how he's handling the economy, up 24 points since Sept. 9.
Bush's standing on this issue relative to the Democrats in Congress also has improved. Fifty-one percent say they trust Bush to do a better job handling the economy; 36 percent pick the Democrats, a 15-point Bush advantage. Before the attacks, the Democrats had a six-point edge.
At the same time, most Americans oppose Bush's preference on airport security, saying by 55 percent to 36 percent that airport security screeners should be federal employees, rather than employees of private companies under government oversight.
Finally, on another security matter, two-thirds say they'd support a law requiring all adults to carry a national identification card with information such as a photograph and Social Security number. Four in 10 say this wouldn't infringe on their privacy at all; another quarter say it would infringe on their privacy — but it's worth it.
Methodology
This ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Nov. 5-6, among a random national sample of 756 adults. The results have a 3.5-point error margin. Field work was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.
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