[Prodigal Son]

Once again, the average American proves to be smarter than the average democratic politician.

[DrDeb]

Excellent post! As usual, we Midwesterners can be counted on to common sensically analyze the political maneuverings of both the Democrats and the press!

[deport]

---

War On Terrorism
All data are from nationwide surveys of Americans 18 & older.

---

Polls listed chronologically.

.

.

CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. May 16, 2002. N=598 adults nationwide. MoE ± 4.
						.

"First, how much confidence do you have in the Bush Administration to protect its citizens from future terrorist attacks: a great deal, fair amount, not very much, or none at all?"
		Great Deal	Fair Amount	Not Very Much	None At All	No Opinion
		%	%	%	%	%
	5/16/02	38	37	16	7	2
						.
"Overall, how much do you blame each of the following for the September 11th terrorist attacks: a great deal, a moderate amount, only a little, or not at all? How about [see below]?"
		Great Deal	Moderate Amount	Only a Little	Not At All	No Opinion
		%	%	%	%	%
	The Bush Administration
		7	22	26	43	2
						.
	The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI
		16	29	24	27	4
						.
	The Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA
		19	30	27	18	6
						.
"As you may know, the Bush Administration said today that it was aware before September 11th that Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization had plans to hijack U.S. airplanes. However, the Administration was not aware that the airplanes would be used to blow up buildings, and they were not aware of a specific date or location of attack. Has this made you feel less favorably toward President Bush, or has it not affected your opinion of him?"
		Less Favorably	Not Affected Opinion	More Favorably (vol.)	No Opinion
		%	%	%	%
	5/16/02	32	66	1	1
						.
"Do you think the Bush Administration did or did not act on the information available to them in a proper way?"
		Did	Did Not	No Opinion
		%	%	%
	5/16/02	41	52	7
						.
"Do you think the Bush Administration did or did not give airlines as much warning about hijacking threats as was possible?"
		Did	Did Not	No Opinion
		%	%	%
	5/16/02	29	58	13
						.
"Do you think the Bush Administration should or should not have discussed the fact before now that it had this information prior to September 11th?"
		Should	Should Not	No Opinion
		%	%	%
	5/16/02	68	29	3
						.
"Which comes closer to your view: no one could have predicted the attacks of September 11th, or the government should have been able to predict the attacks of September 11th given the information available to it?"
				%
	No one could have predicted			58
	Should have been able to predict			38
	No opinion			4
						.
"Finally, do you think there should or should not be a congressional investigation into the fact that the Bush Administration did not release this information sooner?"
		Should	Should Not	No Opinion
		%	%	%
	5/16/02	43	55	2
pollingreport.com

[Dan Rather reporting]

Yes, Mr Daschle, I agree, it is backfiring. What else have you got, sir?"

[Lady In Blue]

Thanks very much for this very encouraging post! I feel better now.