However, when sifting through other polling data on Iraq today, I was quite pleased to discover that Pew, which received one of the first two "Dsitorty" awards for outstanding achievement in the field of distortion of public opinion on Iraq, recently released a poll that presented a balanced, accurate view of public opinion on withdrawal from Iraq:
Of those who support bringing the troops home, most favor a gradual withdrawal over the next one to two years rather than an abrupt departure. Even among liberal Democrats, 66% of whom favor disengagement, most believe this withdrawal should be gradual (40% favor gradual withdrawal, 24% think it should occur immediately). Within every partisan group across the spectrum, support for bringing troops home is more likely to mean gradual rather than immediate withdrawal.
Many of those who favor keeping troops in Iraq until a stable situation is created nonetheless favor the establishment of a timetable for withdrawal. Among the public overall, 49% favor keeping troops in Iraq but just 30% take this position and reject a timetable for withdrawal. Democrats who believe the U.S. should remain in Iraq are divided evenly between those who favor and those who oppose a timetable. Even among Republicans, just half (51%) take the position of the administration that the U.S. should keep troops in Iraq, with no timetable, until a stable situation is established.
There you have it: a responsible, accurate survey of public opinion on Iraq. It wasn't that difficult, either. As the table on the right shows, this survey did not even require Pew to drop their long-standing question on Iraq, and thus lose their trendlines. Instead, they simply asked a follow-up question to add more depth and clarity to the standard "stay / leave" question. This is something that every polling group can begin to do without losing any of their long-term trends on the withdrawal.
Unlike polls such as AP-Ipsos, this poll does not group everyone who opposes the "stay as long as it takes" position into the "withdraw everyone right now" camp. Instead, it actually allows those who support a timetable and who support gradual withdrawal to have their opinions heard. Best of all, Pew then actually reports these findings to the public, although they do not have a wire service to broadcast their findings nationwide. Unsurprisingly, the report finds that only 30% support the Bush administration stance of maintaining the current troop level in Iraq indefinitely.
As long as they continue to ask their current follow-up questions along with their main Iraq withdrawal question, the Pew Center for the People and the Press is hereby granted the first "Redeemed" award on Iraq polling. Please, send Pew a quick thank you note for conducting a more responsible and balanced survey on Iraq, instead of continuing to use the Bush administration question. You can email them here:
info@people-press.org
Please be nice. I think that people and groups who redeem themselves from past errors deserve praise. Also, urge them to continue to ask their current follow-up questions on Iraq, because just conducting one balanced survey and then reverting back to distortion is unacceptable.
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