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Democrats.com Poll Finds Majority Want to Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq in 6 Months
As Congress considers President Bush's request for another $200 billion for Iraq, 54% of Americans want Bush to bring U.S. troops home within 6 months, according to a Democrats.com telephone poll of 618 adults conducted from September 6-9, 2007 by ICR.
An overwhelming majority (73%) of Americans want U.S. troops home in a year, the poll found.
This is the first poll that asked voters to choose between President Bush's funding request of $200 billion and other funding options.
The single largest group - 40% - want Bush to bring U.S. troops home within 6 months using funds Congress has already given him for Iraq, which now totals $450 billion. That is the position advocated by Democratic Presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
Another 14% would give President Bush $50 billion more to bring our troops home within 6 months.
Another 19% would give President Bush $200 billion more - the amount he requested - but would require a deadline to bring U.S. troops safely home within a year.
Just one in eight Americans (13%) support the Republican position of giving Bush a $200 billion check without any deadline.
We asked this question:
President Bush wants Congress to spend 200 billion dollars more in tax dollars next year to keep U.S. troops in Iraq with no plans to bring them home. Should Congress:
| Total | Dem | Ind | Rep | |
| Give President Bush 200 billion dollars without conditions | 12.8% | 5.4% | 10.4% | 31% |
| Give President Bush 200 billion dollars but require him to bring all U.S. troops safely home within a year | 19.1% | 16.2% | 19.9% | 19.8% |
| Give President Bush 50 billion dollars to bring U.S. troops safely home within 6 Months | 13.8% | 13.9% | 19.9% | 9.6% |
| Require President Bush to use existing funds to bring U.S. troops safely home within 6 months | 40.4% | 56.4% | 38.5% | 22.5% |
| Don't know | 10.8% | 5.8% | 9.7% | 13.6% |
| Refused to answer | 3.2% | 2.3% | 1.5% | 3.3% |
| 6 month subtotal | 54.2% | 70.3% | 58.4% | 32.1% |
| 1 year subtotal | 73.3% | 86.5% | 78.3% | 51.9% |
Among Republican voters, a solid 52% majority support a deadline of one year or less, while just 31% support a blank check for President Bush. Remarkably, 23% of Republicans support the Kucinich position of bringing troops home within 6 months using existing funds.
Democratic leaders have not presented their own funding plan, but said last week they were leaning towards providing Bush with his full request of $200 billion with no deadlines - the position supported by just 13% of Americans.
In July, leaders of the Progressive Caucus told President Bush they would only provide new funds to bring U.S. troops safely home by the end of his term in January 2009, which is now 16 months away. They did not specify how much funding they would support. 70 Members of Congress (including Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul) signed this letter, and several more Members are expected to sign in the coming days.
Update 1: Strategic Vision, a Republican polling firm, uses a heavily biased version of our question:
Do you favor an immediate withdrawal of the United States military forces from Iraq, within the six months?
The only answers are yes or no. Obviously the "no" answer could mean many different things so it's analytically useless, but the "yes" answers are fascinating, especially since they are broken out by state, and in Iowa by party:
| Feb Mar |
Apr May |
Jun Jul |
Aug Sep |
Oct Nov |
||
| FL | Likely voters | 53% | 51% | |||
| GA | Likely voters | 42% | 44% | 45% | 41% | |
| IA | Rep Caucus | 54% | 56% | 51% | 51% | |
| IA | Dem Caucus | 81% | 83% | 85% | 85% | |
| MI | Likely voters | 54% | ||||
| WI | Likely voters | 64% | ||||
| NJ | Likely voters | 56% | ||||
| PA | Likely voters | 52% |
This sample includes two southern states (GA and FL), three midwestern states (IA, MI, WI), and two eastern states (PA, NJ). While it's impossible to average these numbers or extrapolate them to represent regions, support for a six-month withdrawal seems strongest in the Midwest.
Our poll shows the opposite - support for a six-month withdrawal is weakest in the "North Central" region, but some of that difference is "made up" when 1-year withdrawal is included. The South most strongly supports a blank check for endless occupation, but even there it's under 16%.
| NE | NC | S | W | |
| Give President Bush 200 billion dollars without conditions | 10.6% | 12.6% | 15.7% | 10.2% |
| Give President Bush 200 billion dollars but require him to bring all U.S. troops safely home within a year | 12.4% | 23.8% | 18.8% | 20.2% |
| Give President Bush 50 billion dollars to bring U.S. troops safely home within 6 Months | 18.0% | 10.5% | 16.4% | 9.4% |
| Require President Bush to use existing funds to bring U.S. troops safely home within 6 months | 46.4% | 34.6% | 34.1% | 51.2% |
| 6 Months subtotal | 64.4% | 44.9% | 50.5% | 60.6% |
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Dennis Kucinich
Thank you. Any reasonable person can see that Dennis Kucinich is the right person for the job. Genuine and a true diplomat. Also a great leader who has sympathy and respect for the American people. Can say the same for the other puppets (Obama, Clinton) who are busy following their owntails. Please join the Kucinich meetup groups on the internet if you want to help Dennis Kucinich win White House.
The Brownshirts are riding fast and furiously to...
no avail. He is, overall, a lackluster candidate(even compared to the dwarfs we seem to have attracted for this go-round.
I do appreciate that so many people are fired up over Dennis...at the least, they are working toward something rather than away from something.
The latest polls, including the early Sept. polls, show Dennis barely scratching the surface.
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/candidates/Dennis-Kucinich.html
This compilation of polls breaks down into the separate polls for the year to date. All polls are identified. State polls are included as a separate item so that you can scan them all at once. Regions of the country are posted. Blue State/Red State polls are posted. On the major polls, each poll is identified and shows the results of the past 9 months.
His showing right now is no better than it was when he ran and ran and ran last time around. Perhaps, I've thought, he may just be running so that he can get his two cents worth into the media--to say things that others are not saying.
With the early primaries only about 4 months away now, he has no chance in any state in the Union.
Since the Democratic Party is split into Liberals, yellow dogs, blue dogs, centrists, greens, independents, other lefts, we are obviously fractured. The Repugnants are not. They continue to march in lockstep all the way. Perhaps a few cracks in the dike, but in the end, they march together.
That spells trouble. We may well have to hold our noses to vote for a candidate who will not fairly represent us and who may not have the ability to fix our broken country.
Do visit this site and examinie, not only Dennis's standing, but all the other candidates as well. Poll by poll, state by state, region by region, and so on. Worth your time.
Dennis currently is running about 3% in Ohio.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Don't Let Polls Tell You Who to Vote For!
If there was ever a time to vote your conscience it's during a primary. We're never going to get anything but corporate toadies if we keep voting for whoever the corporate media anoints as a "serious" candidate. Kucinich ranks low in polls not because his message is rejected, but because no one hears his message. That's the fault of the corporate media, and you are telling us to vote for the corporate approved candidate of our choice?! Tell me exactly what is gained by voting for "a candidate who will not fairly represent us and who may not have the ability to fix our broken country"?
No one tells anyone who to vote for...
for many of us, there is only about 4 months to the first primaries. If you examine one poll or perhaps two, you only get a general idea how your particular candidate is doing. It is important to know this so that you can really participate in the primary.
I think at this point, it is not media exposure that is hurting Dennis, people do know who he is and they also know from his many public statements, what he is about. What he says is not as important as what has he gotten done. His record of actually getting his ideas passed is not so great.
Here again is a site with all the polls and all the candidates with the results in usable form. Makes for easy comparisons in several different ways. One or two polls indicate very little. 20 or more polls do indicate what movement your candidate is getting.
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/candidates/Dennis-Kucinich.html
If you wish to compare them all...click on their pictures and all the info comes up for that candidate.
Trends are certainly there and any movement, up or down, are clearly shown. Best site I've found to date since it includes the polls from Jan to Sept.
At the moment, Dennis(for example)is carrying about 3% in Ohio...and that his top numbers are at 3.5% nationally. You may not like those numbers, with such a short time to go--there is little chance that Dennis can catch up to the leaders(our top 3 candidates were chosen by the mainstream media before the ink was dry on the '06 election ballots.
Our top 3 candidates are obviously DLC people. Bodes ill for the party.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
It's the Media That's to Blame.
I don't agree that Kucinich has gotten his message out or that people even know he exists. If he got the same attention from the media that the corporate candidates are getting, he would poll higher. Hillary, Obama and Edwards are the only names and faces anyone ever sees in the media. Hence they have name recognition and are automatically considered serious contenders because the media keeps treating them as such. If the media gave Gravel and Kucinich the same coverage, they would wipe the floor with these corporate stooges. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy - the media attention results in high poll numbers and the high poll numbers convince people like you that a vote for a genuinely progressive candidate is a wasted vote.
By your reasoning, Vilsack,
By your reasoning, Vilsack, Warner, and Biden should be right up there with the rest of the DLC-approved candidates. Did it ever occur to you that until we take the Democratic Party back from the self-appointed Democratic "Leadership" Council (DLC), grassroots Democrats will have no voice in the selection of candidates -- none, zip, nada, zilch?
The DLC is nothing more than a conduit for corporate donations, and a well-funded lobbying organization whose goals are to promote New Democrat "centrist" neoconservative corporate goals.
Unless your boy Dennis (and other Democratic presidential wannabes) starts working with Howard Dean and the DNC to reclaim the Democratic Party for traditional Democrats, he will stay at around 3-5% in the polls. Otherwise, Kucinich will be just another poorly-funded fringe Democrat who appeals mainly to "Independents," Greenies, and Libertarians. Fair? Maybe not, but reality is seldom "fair."
Sorry Blue, much of what you say won't wash...
Kucinich has heavy traffic from time to time on most political websites. If he wants media attention, how should he go about getting some? What should Dennis be doing to get more face time on the MSM? It is up to the candidates to get the attention of the voters is it not?
Many of our people never watch the news, never listen to it--other than those who listen to the right-wing radio jocks.
I am really tired of hearing that poor little Dennis doesn't get the attention that you feel he deserves. It is up to him to make a plan, develop his plan, find ways of reaching out to the people...not the other way around. This country up to now has been a Democratic Republic. Our politics are hard, fast, dirty, and confused--they always have been. Goes with the territory.
You seem to feel that I and others vote just the polls. I don't. Polls are a tool and nothing more. I don't watch TV and haven't for over 15 years. What I do is read, research(thats what puters were made for), and discuss when the opportunity arises.
Your beef is not with those enlightened people who have done the research, but more with those who haven't and don't care to.
I'm not a progressive(whatever that means), I am a liberal. I seek a candidate who is intelligent enough and strong enough and active enough to fix this badly broken country.
Edwards got the message about the media, he paid for his time to respond to Bush's speech.
The other candidates have managed to get their messages out. It is up to Dennis to find a way to reach out. If you check out sites like DU, you will find the Kucinich proponents littering the threads with stuff about Dennis.
Bernie Ward, talkshow host on KGO San Francisco, would probably be quite receptive to the idea of Dennis giving an interview. The KGO night audiences cover the west coast from Mexico to Pt. Barrow. Millions and millions of people listen to Bernie on a regular basis...more even since the program is on the net worldwide.
Were Dennis to contact him, he might get the exposure he is not getting. Why has he not taken the time to reach these outlets?
People like me Blue, don't vote on the basis of polls. We don't vote on the basis of newspaper inches given to a candidate. We do rely on hard research into the backgrounds of the candidates, despite your claims to the contrary.
Your banging me over the head in favor of your candidate is a real turnoff. Note my references to the zealot brownshirts of the Kucinich campaign whose activities have probably lost Dennis more votes than he has gained by his own efforts.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
No Independent Media = No Democracy
Unfortunately most people do get their "news" from the corporate media, and if you don't sell yourself to the highest bidder, you don't get the money to buy air time. Grinch, you are the one who keeps using poll numbers to discourage people from voting for Kucinich. Polls shouldn't enter into a person's decision at all. You seem to go out of your way to denounce Kucinich because you are offended by the enthusiasm or perceived tactics of his so-called zealots. But that's not a reason for me not to vote for him. There's nothing Kucinich has said or done that I disagree with. I can't say that about any other candidate. You suggest that Kucinich is weak and ineffective, but you don't propose anyone better. Show me someone who supports what Kucinich does but is more effective at it and I'll vote for him, but I will not vote for someone just because he/she goes by the label of Democrat. Progressive, liberal, whatever you want to call him, Kucinich is not corporate owned. I will not vote for someone who is. And you don't change the Democratic party by NOT supporting progressive candidates.
I'd just like to remind you,
I'd just like to remind you, and the rest of the "Dennis only" supporters, of the Rules of Democrats.com:
http://www.democrats.com/rules
And these excerpts in particular:
[Snip]
(1) This rule was created to create a community of and for Democrats. But during primary campaigns this rule takes on a special meaning: you must be committed to supporting the winner of the Democratic primary, even if (a) that candidate is not your preferred candidate, (b) you disagree with that candidate on issues that are important to you, (c) you don't like some aspect of that candidate's record or personality, and (d) you think that candidate "cannot win." So whenever you harshly criticize a Democratic candidate in a primary, we will ask: are you committed to supporting that candidate if (s)he wins the Democratic nomination? If your answer is no, then Democrats.com is not the right community for you.
If you can't commit to voting for the nominated Democratic candidate, whoever that may be, then you need to find another community in which to participate.
I see your answer as a non-answer...
Dennis chose to run for the presidency but has failed to obtain the financing necessary to keep his head above waterlevel. Campaigns are expensive. If one wants the benefits of our media, then one needs to acquire enough cash to play the game. Both Dean and Wes Clark managed to avoid, for the most part, corporate funding during their campaigns. They solicited private funding and got that funding from their supporters--the first time in presidential politics that this was done.
According to your statements, you require someone else to pick up the funding for Dennis to help him stay pure and clean of corporate taint. At some point in the campaign, one has to face the reality of some sort of a funding structure.
If it were just the case of one or two polls, then there might be something in what you have said about polls as an indicator of success--or at the least--an indicator of what needs to be done by any candidate to find a way toward more exposure. The polling site I have offered, shows the relative position nationally in over 20 polls and the standings of ALL the candidates. I note that on other sites, Kucinich enthusiasts crow mightily when this poll or that poll show some upward movement by Dennis in daily polls. That you choose to stay above the use of tools, may be the reason your candidate is not doing well.
What we are about to embark on is a primary, not a national election. Our party, like all other parties, is attempting to select our eventual nominee. To stay in the primary campaign, one needs to get exposure or one fails the contest. What one thing, in our busy world, gets exposure? The world of school politics is one of free exposure--the adult world requires considerable funding to be a creditable candidate. This is the world we have, the system we have.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
And so correct you are, as is He!
Dennis is unique.
In all these years of perusing bogus narcissistic politicians and boring candidates debates, Dennis is the FIRST ONE worthy of leadership.
This is a man who will do great things. Ghandi and King faced also huge odds, but look now how they are both eulogized and universally admired! Not to mention Mandela.
Dennis is a man with genuine compassion, who walks his talk. Now let's hope he doesn't get Wellstoned...
As to the topic above-- 54%?? I mean, what is up with that? There should be a huge mobilization to pull out now, everything, everybody, and make massive reparations...
It seems the bible-belted robertsonites are impossible to convince, give them the opiate of the masses and they'll be forever addicted to fraud and 'believing' whatever whichever corrupt shepheard has to say this time. No amount of limbless returning combat robocops will show them the folly of combat.
In respons to a comment below about a mind once expanded can never return to it's original size, I retore rhetorically that a mind once addicted to religious, selfish, fear/aggressive/militaristic/rascist/hegemonic neocon redneck bible-belted lemming syndrome is incapable of being rehabilitated.
Once a brainless, numb-minded follower of selfish ways, ALWAYS an anti-humanitarian, military-enlisting bigot ready to follow that which drapes itself in quasi-believeable flags of the fundamentally corrupt.
What ever happened to lets impeach tha bumbs??
Iraq
plain and simple, END THIS WAR!
iam a Vietnam TET Veteran i was lied to then and i am being lied to now!
END THIS XOQXXIN WAR!
Dennis Kucinich
If Americans were thoughtful, reasonable people, Dennis Kucinich would be their choice for president. People don't bother to learn anything about any of the candidates. They go with what they see on TV--how sorry is that? Read, look to see who is funding which candidate, and you'll see that Kucinich is the most "pure."
I do think that Edwards is starting to be more appealing with his support of unions. However, if you parse what he says about the Iraqi occupation, he's no better than the other corporate shills.
IRAQ WAR
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME ASAP (AT LATEST 6 MONTHS 4-5 BRIGADES/MONTH) ... NO MORE MONEY TO THIS ADMINISTRATION ... ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!