Poll: More Americans Favor Congress Withholding Funds In Face Of Veto

[babylonsister]

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/apr/11/poll_more_americans_favor_congress_withholding_funds_in_face_of_veto



Poll: More Americans Favor Congress Withholding Funds In Face Of Veto
By Greg Sargent | bio

Buried in today's Los Angeles Times poll is a fascinating number that's gotten no attention as of yet:

It finds that if President Bush vetoes the Dems' bill attaching a withdrawal date to troop funding, more Americans by a very slim margin want Congress to refuse to send the President another bill without withdrawal timetables than want Congress to give him the no-strings-attached bill that he's insisting on.

Here's the question:

Q: If George W. Bush vetoes the legislation, do you think Congress should pass another version of the bill that provides funding for the war without any conditions for troop withdrawal, or should Congress refuse to pass any funding bill until Bush agrees to accept conditions for withdrawal?

Fund the war without conditions: 43%
Withhold funding until Bush signs: 45%
Don't know: 12%

This is striking, and here's why. Until now, virtually every poll asking whether people support or oppose defunding the war has asked the question in complete isolation, and public opinion has generally tilted against defunding. But this is to my knowledge the first poll that has asked the question in the political context of the President's current veto threat and the resultant standoff with Congress. In other words, this question is basically asking whether Americans favor Congress caving to Bush after his veto or whether they want Congress to stand up to him. As you can see, a slightly larger group wants the latter.

Yes, this is only one number, but it's noteworthy, and it raises a question -- and we'd love to hear from you readers about this. When Bush vetoes the bill and then accuses Dems of "refusing to fund the troops," what would happen if Dems then replied: "Mr. President, we are funding the troops. We gave you a bill; you vetoed it. But the American people have spoken: They want withdrawal timetables in there. We'll give it to you again, Mr. President; this time, sign it. Do what the American people want you to do."

more...

[damntexdem]

1. Such a response is the VERY LEAST that the Dems should undertake.

Far better would be to defund the war -- but that is not going to happen anytime soon.

[acmavm]

2. The American people, at least the part capable of forming

coherent thought patterns, are damn sick of this war and want it over no matter what it takes.

And the other small part of America that still supports this fiasco are certainly having their doubts now that it's apparent that no matter what we do, we lose anyway.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. Shhhhhh... MSM doesn't want us to know that. I bet if it came out, many of those

don't knows, would agree with the Dems.