60% of Young Male Voters Say War in Iraq, “Not the Right Decision” -Zogby

[Rose Siding]

Released: September 29, 2004

Most political pundits believe that the final month of the 2004 presidential campaign will center around the war in Iraq. If so, then young men are likely to cast a vote of “no confidence” in George W. Bush. These are the findings of a new Zogby/Williams Identity poll conducted by Zogby Interactive from September 3 through September 7, 2004. The interactive survey was conducted online among 850 males between the ages of eighteen and thirty years old.

The survey reveals that 60 percent disagree with the statement that George W. Bush made the right decision to go war with Iraq. (Only 40 percent think Bush made the correct decision.) These attitudes remain firmly held when other aspects of the war are probed. For example, 63 percent disagree with the claim that Bush made the right decision to go to war, even if the intelligence data were flawed. Strong opposition to the war among the nation’s young men has created a crisis of confidence in the president’s leadership: 59 percent believe President Bush misled the American people from the beginning about the need to go to war with Iraq.

These negative assessments of the Commander-in-Chief are held by all major racial and income groups among the young men surveyed. For example, when asked if George W. Bush made the right choice in going to war, 36 percent of whites “completely agree;” among Hispanics and African-Americans, the figures are 30 percent and 18 percent respectively. Those at the bottom of the income scale have very negative opinions about the President’s decision to go to war: of those earning less than $15,000, only 27 percent “completely agree” with Bush’s decision. As income levels rise, support for the President’s judgment about the Iraq war decision rises only modestly. For example, of those earning $75,000 or more, 36 percent “completely agree” with Bush’s decision.

There is some evidence that suggests a lack of support for the Iraq War is translating into a crisis of confidence in government........MORE........

http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=871

[WI_DEM]

1. well lets hope they actually vote

and back up their opinion by turning out on election day.

[Katha]

2. WOW!

Bush is in major trouble.

[cthrumatrix]

3. HAS CNN broke in 80000 times to share THIS poll...????????

[Frances]

5. Don't hold your breath waiting for CNN

to broadcast this info.

I don't know what I'd do without Jon Stewart and this board to keep me informed.

[Career Prole]

12. I don't know if I'd want CNN to broadcast it.

They'd just put that POS Schneider on to "analyze" for the sheeple.

BARBIE DAHL: Here to explain the Zogby poll results is CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider...Bill, what are these numbers indicating?
POS SCHNEIDER: What these numbers show us is that support for the president's decision to invade Iraq is virtually unwavering among young male voters across all income and race lines, and young males are the largest part of our troops engaged in the march to freedom of our new Iraqi friends. No matter how you slice it, this spells bad news for the Kerry campaign, Barbie.
BARBIE DAHL: Thank you, Bill. After the break, we'll visit with Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman who will tell us what John Kerry needs to do to salvage his faltering campaign.
(Cuts to clip of Lieberman)
LIEBERMAN: I think President Bush is absolutely right here...about Iraq and basically everything. Senator Kerry would do well to support our president during the War on Terror as I do and I feel all the American people do.
(Commercial break)

I can see this happening all too clearly. I'd rather CNN just stuck to reporting Britney sightings and stayed the hell out of our elections.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. Draft anyone???

They better vote!

[VegasWolf]

6. Only 60%! Imagine being 20 and looking at a draft for Iraq. n/t

[catmandu57]

7. Notice that the higher income

group is more supportive, I guess if you or your parents have money, that means either you have better options, or are counting on the net picking up the lower income, and less educated.
If we have a draft we need to take all irregardless.

[DemFromMem]

11. Women too

And what's up with all those security moms? The chance of your kids dying if we have a draft aren't exactly insignificant.

[jn2375]

8. A vote for Bush is a vote for the DRAFT

Please, people will flock to Kerry if the fear of a draft comes back if Bush is reelected.

[saigon68]

9. Get ready to learn to march Boys--your time is at hand

The DRAFT will be here shortly, the NEOCONS have no intention of stopping the War with just Iraq-- Iran and Syria are next.

[catmandu57]

14. Better put N.Korea

on that list as well. If we try to do something stupid like getting bogged down in the ME then they may see it as a perfect time to unite the penninsula.

[saigon68]

22. That too --- good point

I think they'll let that one (N. K.) wait unless forced.

The race will be for the oil first.

[lastliberalintexas]

10. Too bad they didn't feel this way

before we ever invaded and before their rear ends could be subject to a DRAFT. I guess better late than never.

[6th Borough]

13. I don't see this as good news...

40% believe that it was a correct decision to engage in a war that had no rationale (if anyone did the slightest bit of research)before the damn invasion even started. To still support it now...40%...I'm just fucking speechless.

People. Are. Dumb. Either that or deaf, blind, and unable to read Braille.

[Mechatanketra]

18. Welcome to the Milgram slice.

A famous series of social psych experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram (Yale university) established that, given morally repugnant instructions (in this case, ostensibly inflicting electric shocks of increasing, even potentially fatal, voltage), about 65% of people will obey even with only slight instigation (i.e. no overt pressure other than the instructions themselves), and 30% weren't even deterred by physical immediacy to the 'victim' (having to hold them down on the 'shock' plate -- essentially personally torturing them).

These numbers line up eerily well with the (abortive) results of the equally notable Philip Zambardo (Stanford) prison simulation experiment -- with one third of the "guards" (college volunteers selected at random from the same pool as the "prisoners") turning unacceptably abusive ... and also eerily well with many political polls, especially support for the Iraq war -- a solid third of protest, and a soft third of support shrinking towards a hard core of unshakeable endorsement.

People generally characterize experiments like Milgram's and Zambardo's as expressive of a universal human weakness to authority, i.e. "There's a 66% any single person, such as you, might succumb to the perceived need to conform even if it requires potentially immoral behavior". I suspect the truth may lie closer to these experiments revealing the relative rarity of real moral values -- that only about 30% of humanity (or at least America) actually has an internalized conscience.

People aren't dumb. They're just bad.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. IMHO, those are the 40% that have not been paying attention.

[Emillereid]

15. GREAT news -- and a call for action!!

This is truly great news. Young males tend to carry cell phones and thus are not included in most polls. They often haven't voted before so they don't show up in the polls of likely voters. Now it's up to us to make sure these young men actually vote. To that end I urge everyone of you to carry registration and absentee voter forms with you everywhere you go -- when you meet a young person who is on our side, but not registered or not inclined to go the polls, give them the appropriate form (s). Also sign up to do either phone banking or precinct walking -- no other job is more important at this stage in the campaign. We must identify our voters and then MAKE SURE THEY ACTUALLY VOTE!!!

[indepat]

16. By all means those younguns who support pre-emptive war should volunteer

their services immediately.

[AspenRose]

17. Hammer it home on college campuses nationwide

Bush = D-R-A-F-T

[daleo]

19. It sounds like they can sense a draft

And don't like it one little bit. It is good to see that most of the potential cannon fodder can see what is on the horizon.

[KansDem]

21. 40% of young male voters say, "Send the other 60%...!" (nt)