Swing Voters More Critical of Bush on Iraq

Majority Says President Was Misleading, Slight Majority Says War Not Necessary

Swing voters were defined as respondents who said they were extremely confident that they would vote in the upcoming election and identified themselves as independents.

Swing voters are more critical of Bush's handling of Iraq than is the general population. While the general public leans toward giving him positive ratings overall (49 percent positive, 33 percent negative) swing voters lean toward giving him negative ratings (38 percent positive, 46 percent negative).

Among swing voters 52 percent said the US government was being misleading and just as many -- 53 percent -- said President Bush was being misleading when they "presented the evidence to justify going to war with Iraq." Among the general public 42 percent said the US government was being misleading and only 36 percent said this was true of President Bush.

Swing voters were far more likely to say that the president knowingly presented evidence that Iraq has sought to buy uranium from an African country he was knowingly presenting false evidence. While 27 percent of the general public said he was knowingly presenting false evidence 43 percent of the swing voters felt that way. A majority of swing voters (52 percent) said that "the fact that the president presented information that was in fact false" lowered their confidence in the president some (34 percent) or a lot (18 percent). Only 40 percent of the general public felt this way.