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xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Sat Feb 16, 2013, 07:41 AM Feb 2013

Two New Polls Obscure American Views of Obama's Drone Program

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/two-new-polls-obscure-american-views-obamas-drone-program




Two new and widely discussed polls provide a distorted picture of Americans' views on civil liberties and the Obama administration's expanded drone program. (While I am not suggesting these polls were intentionally skewed, I do question their methodology.)

A CBS poll found that 71 percent of Americans approve of the drone program. And by a 49-38 margin, a plurality approved of targeting U.S. citizens “who are suspected of carrying out terrorist activities against the U.S.”



Another poll, conducted for The Hill by Opinion Pulse Research found similar results, but another question it looked at got more attention. Asked whether the Obama administraton has been better, worse or about the same as the Bush administration was “in striking the right balance between ensuring national security and protecting civil liberties,” a majority – 52 percent – said that Obama has been worse (37 percent) or about the same (15 percent).

Both questions have problems. The first is that both polls asked about “suspected terrorists” (CBS) or “people in foreign countries whom the US government says are terrorists and present an imminent threat” (The Hill).
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Two New Polls Obscure American Views of Obama's Drone Program (Original Post) xchrom Feb 2013 OP
Who's on American Idol tonight? blkmusclmachine Feb 2013 #1
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