Fear of being the victim of a sniper attack was especially high among women (56 percent very or somewhat concerned) and minorities (58 percent very or somewhat concerned). The serial killings in the suburbs surrounding the nation’s capital had claimed eight lives by week’s end, and the killer, or killers, responsible for the shootings remained at large.
There was some good news this week, however, as a strong two-day rally helped stocks post their first weekly gain since August. Nonetheless, Americans remain almost as anxious about the economy and the volatile stock market as they did in midsummer. Forty-one percent of those polled feel they won’t be able to retire as early as they would have liked, just slightly less than the 44 percent who said so in a mid-July poll. Thirty-six percent say they won’t be able to live the kind of lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to. One quarter of those polled say they’re worried they won’t be able to send a son or daughter to the kind of college they would like. Despite some signs of economic recovery, only half of those polled say they don’t feel their job and their spouse’s job are less secure; 35 percent remain worried about job security; 15 percent are not sure.
President George W. Bush’s approval rating continues to decline, down four percentage points from the last NEWSWEEK poll in late September. Though his rating remains relatively strong at 61 percent, that is 27 points lower than his high of 88 percent a year ago. Bush gets relatively high marks for his handling of foreign policy in general (59 percent approve) and his policies to deal with the threat posed by Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein (58 percent approve). But only half of those polled approve of the way he’s handling the economy; 41 percent do not while nine percent don’t know.
Still, only about a third of those polled (32 percent) say the Democrats in Washington are offering a clear-cut alternative to the Bush administration on the economy; 48 percent say they are not. There is a similar split among respondents when asked whether Democrats have a clear-cut alternative to deal with the threat posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein: 33 percent say they do, 49 percent say they do not. Forty-nine percent also say that Democrats have no clear alternative to Bush’s foreign policy in general, only 29 percent say they do (almost as many–22 percent–say they don’t know).
The Democrats have lost a little of their edge in the campaign races. If the November election for U.S. Congress were being held today, registered voters are dead even on whether they’d vote Republican or Democrat at 43 percent each (11 percent would vote for another party or are undecided). But among those categorized as likely voters, those leaning toward Democratic candidates (46 percent) still have a slight lead over those leaning toward Republicans (43 percent). In the last poll in late September, 47 percent of all registered voters said they would vote for the Democrat and 40 percent said they would vote for the GOP candidate (likely voters were not identified).
Respondents are largely divided among party lines when it comes to which issues are most important when deciding their vote for Congress: 30 percent of all registered voters say the issue of war with Iraq is most important to them; 29 percent say the proposals to help the economy are most important and 25 percent say social issues like health care are most important. Registered Republicans polled pick the same order. But registered Democrats alone have the opposite priorities, citing social issues as the most important (33 percent), followed by economic stimulation proposals (32 percent) and Iraq (24 percent); 7 percent say local issues are most important.
Americans are more aligned in their support for a military action against Iraq, with two thirds of all respondents (66 percent) approving the use of military force if necessary, just above the 63 percent recorded two weeks ago in the poll. If the United States does take military action against Iraq, the most popular method among those polled would be the use of an international force to remove Saddam Hussein from power and take control of the country–72 percent approve such an action. Seventy percent also support sending in commandos or U.S. Special Forces to capture Saddam Hussein or work with local opposition forces and 68 percent say they’d support using air strikes against Iraq without any troops on the ground. But less than half (48 percent) would support sending in large numbers of ground troops to ensure control of the country; 42 percent would not support the use of U.S. ground troops.
Forty-nine percent of those polled say it would be better to delay military action against Iraq to try to get more support from our allies, even if it gives Saddam more time to prepare for an attack and try to develop weapons of mass destruction. Forty-two percent say it is important to take military action in the next month or so, even if many of our allies continue to oppose it. But the poll also indicates that most Americans hope the Bush administration tries harder to get support from European allies and the U.N. before any action is taken.
Before the United States uses military force against Iraq, the vast majority of respondents say it’s very (60 percent) or somewhat (29 percent) important to get support from most European allies. Eighty-five percent say it’s very (57 percent) or somewhat (28 percent) important that the U.S. get formal support from the United Nations. Getting support from most of the Arab countries that are friendly to the U.S. is slightly less important: 47 percent say it’s very important and 33 percent say it’s somewhat important.
If the United States does take military action against Iraq, more than three quarters of those polled it’s very (35 percent) or somewhat (41 percent) likely that many U.S. pilots or other military personnel will be killed or taken prisoner. Fifty-nine percent say it’s very likely that hundreds of Iraqi civilians will be killed or injured, and 49 percent say thousands of Iraqi civilians will likely be killed and injured.
