Polls: Iraq angst may be helping McCain

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

Polls: Iraq angst may be helping McCain
By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jan 26, 4:24 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Republican angst over the war in Iraq may be helping fuel John McCain's rise as a top presidential contender, even though he has been the campaign's highest profile supporter of the unpopular conflict, according to surveys in early voting states and interviews with GOP pollsters.

In states that have held GOP nominating contests so far, the Arizona senator has done better with people naming Iraq as the country's top problem than with those who picked other issues, entrance and exit polls of voters show. He has also done better with GOP voters saying they disapprove of the Iraq war than with those saying they approve.

Unlike Democrats and independents, most Republicans support the war, which several national polls show has been overtaken by the economy as the campaign's defining issue. Yet while only a minority of Republicans express displeasure with the conflict, their numbers are significant in the close race for the GOP nomination.

Republican pollsters say GOP voters unhappy over Iraq are generally displeased with how the Bush administration has conducted the conflict and don't oppose the war itself. They say that with violence in Iraq declining in recent months, those Republicans see it as vindication for McCain's longtime support for a continued strong U.S. military effort.

"He's been foremost among Republican critics of the tactics in Iraq, though stalwart about the importance of winning," said GOP pollster Whit Ayres, who is not affiliated with any presidential candidate. "He's getting votes from people who basically favor the war, as well as people who are critical of the effort we've made there."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080126/ap_on_el_pr/remember_iraq

[msongs]

1. obamaHillary keep voting to support the war, at least McCain is upfront in his support of it nt

[Voltaire99]

7. Agreed.

McCain is a psycho, but he's up front about his war perversions.

Hillary's war prostitution is plain to everyone, apparently, but her. And Obama's sneering the other day at "70s love-in" war opposition -- a disgraceful bit of pandering to the right wing -- has cost him any future support from me.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. "Frenzzze, We'll be in Iraq for a thousand years & those jobs aren't coming back"

One hell of a campaign theme.

[BlueManDude]

3. The utter insanity of the other candidates is what's fueling McCain.

[Barrett808]

4. McCain's no slouch on the crazy scale himself

Delusional, koo-koo for Cocoa Puffs, barking mad.

[bluestateguy]

5. What a bunch of pop political science MSM nonsense

Geez

[LibDemAlways]

6. The other day one of the "news" shows was interviewing a

couple of politically active college kids in Florida re. their Presidential choices. The repuke girl was as dumb as they come. Said she was for McCain. When asked about his stand on Iraq, she said that repuke college kids don't care about Iraq because "it doesn't affect us." Says it all, doesn't it?

[niceypoo]

8. Hmmm, this is odd,...

...given that McCain is running as a Bush clone who wants the Iraq war to last for, "1000 years."

And I thought Dems were confused.

[Zorra]

9. McCain is the favorite of the "pojama people", ie, people that consider

themselves reasonable "centrists" or "moderates" that watch Fox News and consider themselves to be intelligent, but who are, in real time, totally uninformed and don't know jack shit about McCain and politics, or government in general for that matter.