President Obama’s decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan won approval from most U.S. voters, who increasingly see the conflict as the right thing to do, according to a new poll.
The survey by Quinnipiac University found 58 percent of voters favoring Obama’s announcement, while 35 percent opposed it. Also, 57 percent said fighting in Afghanistan was the right course of action, up 9 points from a similar survey released Nov. 18.
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The percentage of those who said the United States shouldn’t be in Afghanistan declined to 35 percent from 41 percent.
Voters were divided over Obama’s handling of the Afghan war, with 45 percent supporting him and 45 percent opposing him. That was a 7-point gain for the president from Nov. 8, when 38 percent supported his handling of the conflict and 49 percent opposed it.
In his Dec. 1 speech at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., Obama said the increase in U.S. forces served a “vital national interest.”
Another survey released today also showed a boost in support for the president’s Afghanistan policy after the speech. Marist College reported that 47 percent of voters supported Obama’s handling of the war, an increase from 43 percent in October. The disapproval figure was 43 percent, down from 45 percent two months earlier.
A Gallup poll released today showed Obama’s overall approval rating climbing one day after it dropped to 47 percent — the lowest during his presidency.
In Gallup’s Dec. 5-7 poll, 50 percent of adults interviewed gave Obama positive marks. That figure was up from 47 percent in interviews conducted Dec. 4-6.
Obama in his speech set July 2011 as the target date to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Testifying before two congressional committees on Dec. 2, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the withdrawal will depend on conditions in the country and be based on a review to be conducted in December 2010.
In the Quinnipiac poll, 60 percent of voters approved of Obama’s withdrawal plan, with 32 percent opposing it. At the same time, voters expressed doubts about the pledge, with 40 percent saying he would be able to keep it and 45 percent saying he wouldn’t.
The poll also found that 66 percent of voters said Obama doesn’t deserve the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded in October and will travel to Norway to receive on Dec. 10.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday Obama plans in his award-ceremony speech to address being given the prize as he is ordering the troop escalation in Afghanistan.
