Afghanistan and Obama - By The Numbers - Rasmussen Reports™

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

President Obama detailed his plan for winning – and ending – the war in Afghanistan in a long-awaited speech last night at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of U.S. voters have been following recent news about Afghanistan, including 51% who say they’ve been following the news Very Closely.

Americans are just beginning to absorb the specifics of the president's plan, and Rasmussen Reports will begin polling tonight to see what they think.

It’s been a rough couple months for the president, and what has been perceived in some quarters as hesitation on his part over Afghanistan has added to his problems. When it comes to Afghanistan, just 35% say the president is doing a good or an excellent job while 41% give him poor marks. Obama’s overall job approval ratings as measured by the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll have been in record low territory in recent weeks after stabilizing over the summer.

Before the president’s speech, voters were essentially evenly divided over whether the United States could still win the war in Afghanistan and whether all the troops there should be brought home within a year. Forty-five percent (45%) favored bringing troops home immediately or within a year while 43% opposed such a timetable.

The number of those questioning America’s ability to win and of those supporting a troop withdrawal had been increasing steadily since September when the internal Obama administration debate over Afghanistan became public. That debate was prompted by a request from General Stanley McChrystal, the chief commander in Afghanistan, for a troop surge, but politically speaking, particularly in the president’s own party, an expansion of the war wasn’t a hugely popular idea.

Prior to the speech, Democrats were far more supportive of a troop withdrawal and less confident of winning in Afghanistan than were Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party.

At the same time, overall voter confidence in America’s conduct of the War on Terror has now fallen to its lowest level since the first week of January in 2007.