60% of Young Male Voters Say War in Iraq, "Not the Right Decision"; 59% Say President Bush Misled America and Executive Branch- Highly Responsible for the Problems that US faces Today, New Zogby/Williams Identity Poll Reveals
Most political pundits believe that the final month of the 2004 presidential campaign will center around the war in Iraq. If so, then young men are likely to cast a vote of "no confidence" in George W. Bush. These are the findings of a new Zogby/Williams Identity poll conducted by Zogby Interactive from September 3 through September 7, 2004. The interactive survey was conducted online among 850 males between the ages of eighteen and thirty years old.
http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=871
The survey reveals that 60 percent disagree with the statement that George W. Bush made the right decision to go war with Iraq. (Only 40 percent think Bush made the correct decision.) These attitudes remain firmly held when other aspects of the war are probed. For example, 63 percent disagree with the claim that Bush made the right decision to go to war, even if the intelligence data were flawed. Strong opposition to the war among the nation's young men has created a crisis of confidence in the president's leadership: 59 percent believe President Bush misled the American people from the beginning about the need to go to war with Iraq.
These negative assessments of the Commander-in-Chief are held by all major racial and income groups among the young men surveyed. For example, when asked if George W. Bush made the right choice in going to war, 36 percent of whites "completely agree;" among Hispanics and African-Americans, the figures are 30 percent and 18 percent respectively. Those at the bottom of the income scale have very negative opinions about the President's decision to go to war: of those earning less than $15,000, only 27 percent "completely agree" with Bush's decision. As income levels rise, support for the President's judgment about the Iraq war decision rises only modestly. For example, of those earning $75,000 or more, 36 percent "completely agree" with Bush's decision.
There is some evidence that suggests a lack of support for the Iraq War is translating into a crisis of confidence in government. When young men were asked which persons or institutions were "highly responsible" for the serious problems and challenges we face as a country today, the number one response was the executive branch (59 percent), followed by the media (56 percent), Congress (55 percent), citizens (50 percent), special interests (48 percent), voters (46 percent), education (43 percent), and corporate America (40 percent). Certainly, the Iraq War has contributed to the lack of confidence in Congress and the President. The corporate scandals (e.g., Enron, Martha Stewart, etc.) have also not gone unnoticed as corporate America and special interests come in for heavy criticism.
But some institutions emerged relatively unscathed in the blame game. For example, only 14 percent of respondents thought local governments were "highly responsible" for the country's problems. Other large institutions were also exempt: for example, just 16 percent mentioned labor unions as "highly responsible" for the country's challenges; religious institutions were cited by 26 percent; and 31 percent specified the courts, with 38 percent specifically mentioning the Supreme Court.
There are some more numbers in the article. The bottom line is that Bush's war on Iraq is hurting him and the government in the polls.