According to the latest MSNBC poll, most Americans support the Democratic position on the Iraq War and don’t believe victory is possible:
WASHINGTON - As the Democrat-controlled Congress and the White House clash over an Iraq spending bill, with President Bush vowing to veto it because it contains withdrawal deadlines, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that a solid majority of Americans side with the Democrats.
In addition, a nearly equal number believe that victory in Iraq isn’t possible, and about only one in eight think the war has improved in the three months since Bush called for a troop increase there.
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[T]the poll shows that 56 percent say they agree more with the Democrats in Congress who want to set a deadline for troop withdrawal, versus the 37 percent who say they agree with Bush that there shouldn’t be a deadline.
What’s more, 55 percent believe that victory in Iraq isn’t possible. And 49 percent say the situation in Iraq has gotten worse in the last three months since Bush announced his so-called troop surge. Thirty-seven percent say the situation has stayed about the same, and just 12 percent think it has improved.
And, not surprisingly, this has started to have consequences for 2008:
[T]he poll also shows that the Democratic presidential front-runner who opposed the Iraq war from the start ? Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. ? has gained ground on Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who voted to authorize the war and hasn’t apologized for it, despite her increasingly antiwar rhetoric.
And the candidate whose fortunes seem to be tied the most to the situation in Iraq ? Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. ? continues to trail former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani by double digits.
The war looks to be the main issue in 2008 just as it was in 2006 and, if that’s the case, the Republicans stand to suffer.
