Large Jump Seen In Those Who Rate President Obama Positively in His Handling of Afghanistan

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Obama has had some accomplishments in foreign affairs recently, including his October announcement that all U.S. military personnel would leave Iraq before the year's end.  However, before that announcement was made The Harris Poll surveyed American adults about their feelings on Afghanistan and the data shows a jump in attitudes on how the President is handling things there over the past year.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100517/NY06256LOGO )

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,463 adults surveyed online between October 10 and 17, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

When asked to rate the job President Obama has done in handling Afghanistan over the last several months two in five U.S. adults give him positive marks (42%) while half give him negative ratings (49%) and one in ten are not at all sure (9%).  This shows a marked improvement over last October when less than a third of U.S. adults gave him positive marks (31%) and is his highest rating on his handling of Afghanistan since April 2009, when half of Americans gave him positive marks (51%).  

Not only have Americans improved their opinion of how the President is handling Afghanistan, more Americans are also saying the situation there is getting better.  This month 16% say the situation in Afghanistan is getting better, compared to between 6% and 11% who said so every time this question has been asked since September 2009.  In fact, the current 16% is the highest number saying things are improving since 17% said so six years ago, in July 2005.  The number of people saying the situation in Afghanistan is getting worse has dropped this year, to the lowest ever, at 18%.  Over a quarter said that the situation in Afghanistan was getting worse last year (27%) and that number has been as high as 47% in 2009.  Currently half of Americans say there is no real change in the situation in Afghanistan (51%) which has stayed constant since June 2010.  

Despite improvements in how people think the President is handling things in Afghanistan and the situation there, most Americans still say they are not confident that U.S. policies will be successful there (55%).  Just 13% are confident in the U.S. policies and a third are not sure (32%).  These numbers are not drastically different from the 53-60% who said they are not confident in U.S. policies in Afghanistan over the last two years.

When Americans were asked what they would like to see the U.S. government do with regard to Afghanistan many are not sure (17%) while 31% say they should withdraw all troops now and 38% say they should set a timetable for withdrawal.  Just 13% say the U.S. should send more troops to Afghanistan for a few months to stabilize the situation.

So What?

It is hard to believe that the U.S. has been at war in Afghanistan for ten years.  However, from this poll it seems that opinions are improving – both on how the President is handling the war and on the actual situation there – for the first time in years.  If the U.S. government does not take action and set a definite timeline for troop withdrawal and start bringing personnel home now (which a combined 69% of Americans say they would like to see) these improved ratings may not hold.  With the upcoming full withdrawal in Iraq, maybe the administration will next turn their attention to Afghanistan.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between October 10 and 17, 2011 among 2,463 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

J40806
Q855, 857, 860, 865

The Harris Poll^® #114, November 2, 2011
By Samantha Braverman, Sr. Project Researcher, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American and European offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
Harris Interactive
212-539-9600
[email protected]

SOURCE Harris Interactive