The Washington Post notes some poll results

[darrels joy]

The Washington Post notes some poll results that suggest the Dems are all wet:

Seventy percent of people surveyed said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale--with 44 percent saying morale is hurt "a lot," according to a poll taken by RT Strategies. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale, while 21 percent say it helps morale. . . .

Their poll also indicates many Americans are skeptical of Democratic complaints about the war. Just three of 10 adults accept that Democrats are leveling criticism because they believe this will help U.S. efforts in Iraq. A majority believes the motive is really to "gain a partisan political advantage."

The Washington Times' Jennifer Harper and the Los Angeles Times' Max Boot both note the result of another poll, this one by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which shows that the general public is considerably more optimistic about Iraq than just about any group of "opinion leaders." Respondents were asked if they thought efforts to establish a successful democracy there will succeed or fail:

Succeed Fail
News media 33% 63%
Foreign affairs 28% 71%
Security 28% 70%
State/local government 51% 45%
Academic/think tank 27% 71%
Religious leaders 41% 56%
Scientists/engineers 13% 84%
Military 64% 32%
General public 56% 37%

Watching "Meet the Press" on Sunday, we were especially struck by the dour drumbeat from the journalists' panel, which consisted of David Broder, David Gregory, Eugene Robinson and Judy Woodruff. All agreed that democracy in Iraq is simply hopeless. But their pessimism was totally divorced from the facts: Not one even mentioned the elections scheduled for two weeks from Thursday. Maybe it will turn out that we can do without experts after all.

[SuperScout]

It would be very illustrative if one of the fancy pollsters would poll the troops on the ground concerning the issue of how criticism effects their morale.

[39mto39g]

Or poles maybe?
I have found that the vast majority of people on any subject have already made up there mind and watch and read information just to justify there possition. They pick out what ever it is that will villify the opinion they already have.
My drivers wife is a Democrat and will not watch Fox news, she says she can't watch all those lies? How do you educate or sway someone when there first words are there lying.

The moral of troops is a very important subject and as SS said, I think someone should ask the troops how they feel instead of some reporter telling us how they feel.

Ron