Old Media Misses Rising Support for War in Iraq

Some how, the Old Media has missed the good news on Iraq. On August 27, the Rasmussen polling organization published a poll that showed American confidence is at its highest level ever in support of the War on Terror since they've begun tracking in January of 2004. This poll got little notice by the Old Media, of course, but it illustrates an issue that McCain should exploit to his benefit -- especially after Obama's acceptance speech last night.

Rasmussen found that Fifty-four percent of American voters now think that the U.S. is winning the war in Iraq and forty-eight percent think the situation will get even better in the next six months. Further, Rasmussen reports that this turn around in public opinion has been sharp when just last year only twenty-seven percent thought things were going to get better in Iraq.

Ominously for the Obama campaign, the poll also found that sixty-two percent of men agree that the U.S. is winning the War on Terror while forty-six percent of women do. Less than a quarter of women now think the terrorists are winning with just fourteen percent of men feel that way.This growing support augers against Obama's continued anti-war stance.

It all points to two salient facts: the surge worked and we've won the war in Iraq. And people are starting to notice.... not that the media is.

Yet, what did Obama say concerning Iraq just the other night in his acceptance speech?

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats that we face.

...And today, today, as my call for a timeframe to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush administration, even after we learned that Iraq has $79 billion in surplus while we are wallowing in deficit, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

...You don't defeat -- you don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances.

Clearly, according to this Rasmussen poll, John McCain does not "stand alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war." The American people are by increasing numbers standing next to him in support of this effort, sensing its success.

Barack Obama is placing himself on the losing side of the Iraq war, giving succor to the enemy and clearly showing himself to misunderstand the mood of the American people. America is turning the page from its anti-war pessimism and beginning to see that George Bush's "stubbornness" was the right path to victory. Yet Obama continues down his anti-war path.

Despite the lack of reporting by the Old Media of this fact, the McCain camp should exploit this growing gap between Obama's defeatist stance and the public's growing support of the War on Terror.