CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Illinois U.S Sen. Barack Obama took a thumping from some Democratic rivals and the pundit-ocracy for saying he would launch military attacks on Pakistan. He said armed forces could be used to root out Al Qaeda terrorists hiding in the mountains of that nation. But now there is data showing Obama seems to have a lot of company in the American public, which increasingly views Pakistan as hostile territory rather than a bosom ally.
Harris Interactive released polling data -- ignored in the press and nearly everywhere else -- showing "some general trends" in public opinion over the past three years. Both Pakistan and China, a trading partner with growing economic and military might and a penchant for shipping shoddy products to the U.S., are considered the No. 1 and No. 2 bad guys on the world stage.
"The two most negative responses that could be given about a country in this survey are 'not friendly but not an enemy' and 'unfriendly and an enemy.' The countries which are most widely viewed as not friendly (i.e. countries for which either of these responses are given) are Pakistan (69%), China (63%), Colombia (56%) and Russia (54%).
"It is striking that Pakistan is the country most widely viewed as unfriendly to the United States since it is considered an ally in the fight against the Taliban and Islamic terrorists and we have provided billions of dollars in aid."
Harris added that a "notable finding" was Pakistan's unfavorable rating had risen 20 points, and China's 9 since 2004. The poll of 1,010 adults was conducted July 10-16. Harris said only about 500 were asked about each of the 25 countries on its list.
The survey may have escaped wide notice because it was made public under a headline about nations that were most admired by Americans. No surprise on the list: Canada, Great Britain, Israel, Australia and Japan were described as the nation's best friends.
Obama could have been mining some of the distrust when he went after Pakistan, distrust that probably resonated in some of his own polls. He said Aug. 2, 2007:
"But let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are planning to strike again. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will."
Obama spoke after reports in July that the U.S. cancelled a raid in 2005 over concerns it would damage relations with Pakistan. Obama called that decision a "terrible mistake." The Chicago Tribune report about his speech is available online. While the Illinois Democrat took criticism for the tough foreign policy statement, it looks like he could have been on solid ground with the public. They clearly don't trust Pakistan -- or China -- according to the Harris data.
Showing posts with label Harris Poll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harris Poll. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
Barack Vs. Hillary: Harris Poll Now Says The Race Is Dead Even
COLUMBUS (TDB) --A fresh Harris Poll shows that Sen. Barack Obama's support has grown since February and he now is even with Sen. Hillary Clinton. Both receive identical 41% support from among all voting age adults. But Democratic voters still give Hillary the edge when asked if they would consider voting for her, although the number, 27%, is 9 points less than a month ago.
For Ohioan Dennis Kucinich, he finally registered in a major national poll. The Cleveland congressman and his longshot campaign got 1% of Democrats and 1% of Independents, which means he's still sucking dust. But a handful of people seem to have noticed he's out there stumping
Al Gore is in third place among Dems, ahead of John Edwards, whose campaign seems mired in the Harris results. The Harris Poll was conducted online between March 1 and 12, and 2,776 adults were surveyed. Harris said it is not a prediction of who would win and called it a "snap shot of the presidential horse race at a very early stage in the race."
The data is HERE , and the thing that seems most striking is that Clinton has lost ground to Obama
"Among Democrats, Senator Clinton still has a clear (27% to 21%) lead over Obama as first choice, but this is down from 36% to 18% in February. Among independents, almost equal numbers prefer Clinton (10%) and Obama (9%). In February, Clinton had a two-to-one (16% to 8%) lead."
For Ohioan Dennis Kucinich, he finally registered in a major national poll. The Cleveland congressman and his longshot campaign got 1% of Democrats and 1% of Independents, which means he's still sucking dust. But a handful of people seem to have noticed he's out there stumping
Al Gore is in third place among Dems, ahead of John Edwards, whose campaign seems mired in the Harris results. The Harris Poll was conducted online between March 1 and 12, and 2,776 adults were surveyed. Harris said it is not a prediction of who would win and called it a "snap shot of the presidential horse race at a very early stage in the race."
The data is HERE , and the thing that seems most striking is that Clinton has lost ground to Obama
"Among Democrats, Senator Clinton still has a clear (27% to 21%) lead over Obama as first choice, but this is down from 36% to 18% in February. Among independents, almost equal numbers prefer Clinton (10%) and Obama (9%). In February, Clinton had a two-to-one (16% to 8%) lead."
Thursday, February 08, 2007
New Harris Poll: Democrats' Ranks Are Growing
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- For the second straight year, the number of Americans who consider themselves Republicans has eroded. A new Harris Poll for 2006 shows the Democrats have grown their lead in party affiliation, and more people considered themselves aligned with the political party than at any point since 1998.
White House political operative Karl Rove in 2004 and 2005 was on the stump pushing his idea that the GOP could create a political realignment that would put it in power for years, maybe a generation. But this data seems to say that Rove is a pipe-dreamer who never was the architect of realignment. In fact, the shift is going the other way.
Still, the Dems shouldn't start popping corks, or at least the party's liberal wing. Liberalism remains the L-word in American politics. The nation's two biggest blocs of political ideology are conservative and moderate and the percentage of conservatives increased last year. The polls did not seem to measure what proportion of the population would be "progressive," a label that is heard with increasing frequency after being revived during this decade. Progressives were big in the early 20th Century, but the label fell out of use.
"While Democrats have increased their lead over
Republicans, conservatives continue to outnumber liberals by a wide margin (37% to 19%), a slight increase from a 34 to 20 percent margin in 2005. Moderates have dropped and now are even with conservatives at 37 percent. This is a change from 2005, when they outnumbered conservatives by a modest 42 to 37 percent margin," Harris reported.
Looking back through the Harris data, conservatism peaked in 1995, when 40 percent of Americans aligned themselves with the philosophy. The polling company said the trend over the past 37 years has shown that Democrats once had a huge majority in party affliation that melted away. But they seem to have reversed their decline.
"The Democratic lead over Republicans has fallen from 21 percentage points in the 1970s, to 11 points in the 1980s and seven points in the 1990s. The lead has averaged six percentage points in the 2000s." Clearly, the 9% spread this year is a good sign for the party. But the polling also shows the center -- the moderates -- has shrunk. And just 24% of Americans consider themselves political independents, a huge shift from the 1970s, when nearly half the nation would not claim allegiance to either major party.
The entire poll is HERE. Harris did the poll by telephone between February and November 2006, and said it reached a nationwide cross section of 10,032 voting age adults. The company has been conducting the poll since 1968, but says data for six years are missing -- 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1993 and 1994.
White House political operative Karl Rove in 2004 and 2005 was on the stump pushing his idea that the GOP could create a political realignment that would put it in power for years, maybe a generation. But this data seems to say that Rove is a pipe-dreamer who never was the architect of realignment. In fact, the shift is going the other way.
Still, the Dems shouldn't start popping corks, or at least the party's liberal wing. Liberalism remains the L-word in American politics. The nation's two biggest blocs of political ideology are conservative and moderate and the percentage of conservatives increased last year. The polls did not seem to measure what proportion of the population would be "progressive," a label that is heard with increasing frequency after being revived during this decade. Progressives were big in the early 20th Century, but the label fell out of use.
"While Democrats have increased their lead over
Republicans, conservatives continue to outnumber liberals by a wide margin (37% to 19%), a slight increase from a 34 to 20 percent margin in 2005. Moderates have dropped and now are even with conservatives at 37 percent. This is a change from 2005, when they outnumbered conservatives by a modest 42 to 37 percent margin," Harris reported.
Looking back through the Harris data, conservatism peaked in 1995, when 40 percent of Americans aligned themselves with the philosophy. The polling company said the trend over the past 37 years has shown that Democrats once had a huge majority in party affliation that melted away. But they seem to have reversed their decline.
"The Democratic lead over Republicans has fallen from 21 percentage points in the 1970s, to 11 points in the 1980s and seven points in the 1990s. The lead has averaged six percentage points in the 2000s." Clearly, the 9% spread this year is a good sign for the party. But the polling also shows the center -- the moderates -- has shrunk. And just 24% of Americans consider themselves political independents, a huge shift from the 1970s, when nearly half the nation would not claim allegiance to either major party.
The entire poll is HERE. Harris did the poll by telephone between February and November 2006, and said it reached a nationwide cross section of 10,032 voting age adults. The company has been conducting the poll since 1968, but says data for six years are missing -- 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1993 and 1994.
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