NBC Poll: Bush gets Saddam, and a boost

The capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein gave President Bush a significant political boost over the weekend, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, but it did not torpedo the campaign of Howard Dean, the most prominent Democratic critic of the war in Iraq.

After Saddam's capture was announced Sunday, Dean moved swiftly to limit the damage to his campaign, stressing that the military success had not changed his view that the United States was wrong to invade Iraq.

“The capture of Saddam is a good thing, which I hope will help keep our soldiers safer,” he said Monday in a foreign policy speech in Los Angeles. “But the capture of Saddam has not made America safer.”

The poll, conducted for NBC News and the Journal by Hart-Teeter Associates of Washington, provides a rare snapshot of how quickly opinions can change after a major development in an issue of continuing concern.

http://msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3721220&p1=0

I'm sure the bounce will be short-lived, particularly when the troops continue coming home in body bags.

"but it did not torpedo the campaign of Howard Dean," <--- Sad to note how many people HERE will be disappointed by this news. Not that I'm particularly rooting for Dean, but I was quite disappointed with what I saw in GD about a fellow Dem.

Yeah that was pretty disappointing considering that it was a fellow Dean. You know I want Dean to win but I won't be disappointed if he doesn't, the only one we should be trying to stop is Bush, not a fellow Dem.

Timmy thought it was good news since the U.S. people were being more hopefully on Iraq, but what the moron didn't say was:

Public opinion has no effect on the Iraqi fighters or the number of attacks

Aren't there going to be an awful lot of disappointed people if the violence continues

Down from 51-39. Bush only gained 1 point of that, however. The rest went to "undecided".

Still, 20 points back is a lot of ground to make up by November. Hopefully, when the full results come out later this week, we'll see how other candidates are doing vs. Bush.

And obviously, this is only one poll. Nevertheless, I'd like to see Dean doing better vs. Bush at this time in the event that he does win the nomination!

the item yesterday that said his capture didn't change people's minds on who they were going to vote for. It was (I think) split about evenly.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

to polling, and the rush we get when we see bush's number fall. But really, the thing we need to be doing now (and until election day) is working for our candidates, and making sure we keep telling the truth on bush.

After all, was bush's boost in the polls really worth the 450+ dead, the 87 billion dollars, and the real possibility of more terrorist attacks here in the United States.

Boosting his appeal was paramount.

Bush used the military to succeed in contrast to all his person failings. And now Shrub is the toast of the country when he finds a toothless 3rd world dictator in a hole in the ground.

Using 9-11, Bush has cowed once proud Americans to view ravaging a tin-horn dictator's country and the capture of him as something that proves he was right about something.

He is right in proving that politics motivate every aspect of this regime's functioning.

I find it hard to not believe that the capture of Saddam will make the region safer? As much as I'd like to toe that line (capturing Saddam will not help to bring peace to the Middle East), it doesn't make much sense to me. Saddam's presence in Iraq obviously caused a whole lot of instability before and after the war. If the Middle East is safer or more stable, the world is safer, thus the United States is safer?

I guess it could be said that Saddam's capture will only ignite the resistance and Saddam loyalists. But I have to face the facts, most people in Iraq are happy that Saddam is gone and would like nothing more to live in peace.

Only time will tell. This is Dean's time to shine. I believe a vast majority of the world's population and the population of the Middle East felt relief in the capture of Saddam. It seems to be providing a light at the end of this dark tunnel. Whether the US can rise to the occasion and use this to rebuild our image in the world remains to be seen.

Bush has a great opportunity to use this as a catalyst for a quick recovery diplomatically in the world. If he succeeds in doing this, and the economy continues to move in a positive direction (with no huge losses) the challenge for any Democratic candidate is going to be huge.

However, if Bush continues a one way course in world domination against the will of Global organizations and foreign governments, we will have a chance. right now, however disappointing it may seem, I'd say the ball is in Bush's court.

There's no need for analysis.

Saddam's presence created stability, not instability, IMO. When analysts discuss the potential negatives of an Iraqi regime change, one of the first things mentioned is the possible destabilization of the Middle East.

With the exception of Fuhrer Sharon's genocide in Palestine, there hasn't been a major war between mid-eastern countries since the collapse of the Soviet Empire, IIRC.

Saddam created stability through fear. That fear could not be contained within the borders of Iraq: it was felt in Jordan, Kuwait, UAB, Israel, Lebanon, etc etc. His presence was a dark cloud over the region.

Are you insinuating that Saddam's removal is going to create a major war between mid-eastern countries?

Bush's approval rating will go up, then back down. It's a sign of his non-leadership that he needs dramatic events to keep his numbers anywhere higher than the mid-50s.

That's encouraging on one hand, but it also makes it likely that some event or other will be manufactured come October. :tinfoilhat:

Standing there like a stonewall.

And the C-Span callers says that too as they congratulate Bush (and not the troops that actually caught him). They say that as if Bush, himself, caught Saddam in that hole.

What a sneering mug on his face!

A sample size of 512 is pretty small for this type of poll. Usually they're closer to 1000...:shrug:

he only got a small boost in that one