MOVEON POLLS WAR POLICY…. MoveOn.org polled 50,000 of its members after President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan last night, asking whether they support the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Greg Sargent got an early look at the results. Here’s the main question:
President Obama just announced that he’s sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and that we’ll keep roughly 100,000 troops in Afghanistan until at least July, 2011. You can read his speech explaining his decision here. Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war in Afghanistan?
Oppose 56.2%
Support 16.1%
Not sure 27.7%
In another question in the same poll, MoveOn members were asked whether they support “the president’s plan.” The addition of the reference to the president boosted support (to 40.5%), but a 55% majority still opposed additional troops.
Now, maybe my expectations are off a bit, but don’t these numbers seem a little low? Sure, a majority of MoveOn members are against the war and opposed to an escalation. But if I had to guess, I would have said a lot more than 55% would oppose Obama’s plan to send another 30,000 troops.
Greg added, “MoveOn members represent the left-wing of the Democratic Party, but it can’t be reassuring that solid majorities reject the plan with memories of the speech still this fresh.” Maybe, but given the ideological makeup of the MoveOn membership — some of the most well informed, unapologetically progressive activists in the country — the political office at the White House may very well be thrilled that it’s “only” 55% of the group’s members who are against the administration’s plan, and not 85%.
