Public Pulse

Conservatives condemn the idea of presidents talking to their counterparts from "enemy" countries, but 67 percent of Americans disagree, according to a June 2 Gallup poll. "Large majorities of Democrats and independents, and even half of Republicans, believe the president of the United States should meet with the leaders of countries that are considered enemies of the United States," the poll says. Fifty-nine percent of Americans, for example, would support the U.S. president meeting with the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The American public, by an overwhelming margin, believes that the cost of the Iraq war is worsening domestic economic problems. In a New York Times/CBS News poll completed on April 2, 67 percent of respondents said the war had contributed “a lot” to American economic problems, and 22 percent said it was contributing “some.” Only 10 percent said “not much” or “not at all.”

Fewer than one in three respondents -- 32 percent -- said they support the war, while 66 percent said they oppose it.

Sixty-one percent of those polled said the next president should remove most U.S. troops from Iraq "within a few months of taking office."

Only 36 percent of those polled said the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over.

Voters have specific bad actors in mind. “It’s about big business, not the little guy,” said one member of that Greenberg focus group. 40% of Americans believe big business get whatever they want in Washington; 38% believe leaders have forgotten the middle class; 35% believe America is doing nothing about problems at home.

People see big business getting what it wants, and the middle class getting left behind. That sentiment outscores declining morals or even terrorism. Only 9% of Americans believe terrorism is having the country go in the wrong direction.

A sizable segment of military officers agree that five years of wrong priorities and wrong decisions in the war in Iraq has left America less safe. In a Foreign Policy magazine survey of more than 3,400 military officers, ranked major and above, 60 percent said that the U.S. military is weaker today than it was five years ago. More than half blame the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than three-quarters said that the Bush administration set "unreasonable" goals for the war. While the survey did not asked whether they approved going into Iraq in the first place, they were asked what the military needed in the future to win the war on terror. Seventy-three percent said the U.S. must improve its intelligence capacity.

"Active-duty officers and those who have retired within the past year give a much higher priority to nonmilitary tools, including more robust diplomacy, developing a force of deployable civilian experts, and increasing foreign-aid programs," the magazine said.

Solutions conservatives are offering to pull the economy out of a recession do not match up with what the public expects.

Just over 1,000 people were asked in a February 2008 Associated Press/Ipsos poll, "How much do
you think each of the following would help fix the country’s economic problems: cutting taxes; putting more money into the hands of poor people; increasing spending on domestic programs like health care, education, and housing; or pulling out of Iraq?" The top response was "pulling out of Iraq": 48 percent said that would help "a great deal" and another 20 percent said it would help "some."

Another 43 percent said that "increased spending on domestic programs" would help "a great deal" and 27 percent said it would help some.

Asked by the Foreign Policy Index to rate strategies for strengthening the nation’s security, a majority of Americans listed “Improving the effectiveness of our intelligence operations” (with 63 percent saying it would enhance our security a great deal), and “Becoming less dependent on other countries for our supply of energy (55 percent). Only 17 percent said “Attacking countries that develop weapons of mass destruction” would enhance our security a great deal, the lowest-scoring strategy in the group.

72% of Americans believe the U.S. should emphasize diplomatic and economic efforts over military efforts in fighting terrorism.

67% percent of Americans disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling the situation with Iraq and 63% say things are going somewhat or very badly there