090132: 53% Say U.S. and Allies Are Winning War on Terror

(Rasmussen Reports) -- Confidence in the America's handling of the War on Terror is over 50% for the first time since mid-November.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 53% of likely voters believe the United States and its allies are winning the war, while only 17% say the terrorists are. Another 23% think neither side is winning.

After hitting a record high of 60% on November 11, confidence began to slip over the following weeks. Most Americans were riveted by television images over Thanksgiving week of the first major terrorist attack in months - killing nearly 200 people in Mumbai, India. In the first survey of 2009, just 47% believed America was winning the terrorism war.

The percentage of those who believe the terrorists are winning is also at its lowest level since November 11, when 15% thought that was the case.

Men remain much more confident than women, with 59% who say the United States and allies are winning compared to just 47% of women. Sixteen percent (16%) of men and 17% of women say the terrorists are winning. While nearly a quarter of both men and women think neither side is ahead, 11% of women are undecided, compared to only three percent (3%) of men.

Over half of white voters (57%) say America and its allies are winning, compared to only 37% of black voters. One-in-five blacks (21%) say the terrorists are winning, compared to just 15% of whites. Twenty-two percent (22%) of whites and 28% of blacks say neither side is winning.

Broken down by party, 71% of Republicans think the United States is winning, compared to only 40% of Democrats and 51% of unaffiliated voters. About one- fifth of both Democrats and unaffiliateds say the terrorists are winning, but only eight percent (8%) of Republicans agree.

Confidence in the nation's security also rose slightly this week, with 49% who say the nation is safer today than it was before the September 11 terrorist attacks, up from 48% a week ago. One third of voters (33%) say that is not true, down from 36% last week, and another 18% are undecided.

A separate survey released last week found that only 26% of Americans believe the nation will be safer at the end of Barack Obama's first year in the White House.

While confidence in the current situation rose this week, expectations for the future remained relatively stable. Forty-two percent (42%) of voters say the situation in Iraq will get better in the next six months, compared to 43% last week. Twenty-one percent (21%) say the situation will get worse, and the same percentage believes it will stay about the same.

As for the long term, 35% of voters think the U.S. mission in Iraq will be deemed a success, down from 39% last week. The plurality (39%) say the mission will be judged as a failure, down from 42% last week, and another 25% are not sure.

Just 31% rate President Bush's handling of the war as good or excellent, up slightly from 28% a week ago. The plurality of voters (44%) says he has done a poor job, down from 48% last week. A survey released earlier this week found that the plurality of Americans (41%) believe Bush will be most remembered for the War in Iraq.

This national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports January 13-14, 2009. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

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