Poll: Support for Bush, War Grows

Washington Post:

Americans have rallied strongly around President Bush and accepted his call for war with Iraq as the only practical way to remove Saddam Hussein and end the threat posed by his weapons of mass destruction, according to a Washington Post-ABC News Poll conducted last night.

Nearly two in three -- 64 percent -- said they approve of the way Bush is handling the confrontation with Saddam Hussein, up from 55 percent in an ABC News survey conducted last week.

Overall support for a war with Iraq also surged from 59 percent two weeks ago to 71 percent today. And the poll found equally broad support for beginning the war immediately after Bush's 48-hour deadline expires on Wednesday. At this point, roughly one in four Americans opposes the invasion.

Currently, roughly six in 10 Democrats said they support an attack on Iraq, compared to about four in 10 in an early March poll. At the same time, however, nearly half said they disapproved of the way Bush has handled the conflict with Iraq.

Republicans remain nearly unanimous in their support for war: nine in 10 back the U.S.-led invasion, similar to polls conducted in recent weeks, and substantially higher than Democrats and political independents.

Confidence in Bush's policy also differs starkly by party. An overwhelming 96 percent of Republicans said they were at least fairly confident that Bush's Iraq policy is the right one, compared to 65 percent of independents and 53 percent of Democrats.

Democrats could never reach 96% agreement on anything. Republicans being 96% behind Bush is actually frightening.