The Ap-Ipsos put out a new poll featuring elections and terrorism. It has some really interesting results (Full survey here – PDF file).
First, the Democrats still hold a lead in the way of national security
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Who do you trust to do a better job of protecting the country? |
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| Democrats | 37% |
| Republicans | 32% |
| Both equally | 4% |
| Neither | 22% |
It is interesting that the Republicans boast about this strong stand on national security and the trust the American people have in them with the job. But as the numbers show, they have lost that trust and that was their key issue. Perhaps a major contributing factor to that comes from this response:
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In the long term, do you think there will be more or less terrorism in the United States because the U.S. went to war in Iraq? |
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| More | 60% |
| Less | 31% |
| About the same | 6% |
| Not sure | 3% |
While Rumsfeld and Bush are out in Iraq defense mode this week, a vast majority of Americans feel that the war of choice has made our country less safe.
The most interesting part is the demographics involved with this poll. Most respondents were white, married, suburban females. The top age range was in the 18-34. In other words, this survey included a large percentage of “soccer moms”. This shows that they feel less safe and a contributing factor is the decision to oust Saddam Hussein. This is a key to the November elections.