Majority says president, mother should meet, poll suggests
WASHINGTON -- A new
The survey indicated that 52 percent of the public says Bush should talk to Sheehan, who has repeatedly asked for a meeting with the president, while 46 percent said he should not. Fifty-three percent support what she is doing, while 42 percent oppose her actions.
Sheehan began her protest three weeks ago, four days after Bush began a five-week vacation at his Crawford ranch. She has repeatedly demanded that Bush meet with her to discuss the war. The two met last year at an event for military families, and Bush has repeatedly declined another meeting. Recently Sheehan announced plans to embark on a bus tour after protesters break camp later this week. The bus tour will end in Washington on Sept. 24 with a 24-hour vigil.
Like the war and Bush's overall handling of the situation in Iraq, attitudes toward Sheehan divide sharply along partisan lines. Seven in 10 Democrats say they support Sheehan's position on Iraq, while an equal proportion of Republicans oppose her.
In the three weeks since she began her protest, Sheehan has quickly become the most visible symbol of the antiwar movement. Fully three in four Americans say they have read or heard about Sheehan and her protest.
The survey also suggests, that Sheehan's antiwar vigil has failed to mobilize large numbers of Americans against the war. If anything, her opposition has done as much to drive up support for the war as ignite opponents, the survey suggested.
Eight in 10 Americans -- including overwhelming majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and political independents -- say Sheehan's protest has had no impact on their attitudes toward Iraq. One in 10 say she has made them less likely to support the war, but the same proportion say she has made them more likely to back the conflict.
A total of 1,006 randomly selected adults were interviewed by telephone Aug. 25 through 28 for this national survey. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
