There are some interesting insights in the new LA Times poll published this morning, but I think Greg Sargent is right that the newspaper may have buried the lede. This question from the poll seems to have been largely unnoticed.
Q: If George W. [tag]Bush[/tag] [tag]veto[/tag]es the legislation, do you think Congress should pass another version of the bill that provides funding for the war without any conditions for troop withdrawal, or should Congress refuse to pass any funding bill until Bush agrees to accept conditions for withdrawal?
That’s a surprisingly helpful, politically salient question. Bush’s veto now seems likely, and far too many people believe Dems will have to cave to the president’s demands in order to keep funding the war. But is that the approach Americans want to see? Apparently not.
A plurality of 45% in the poll said Congress should withhold funding for the war until Bush accepts a withdrawal timeline, while 43% argue that lawmakers should fund the war without conditions. A majority of Dems (66%), a plurality of independents (43%), and one-in-five Republicans (21%) back the withholding funds approach.
This is a pleasant surprise. As Greg explained, “Until now, virtually every poll asking whether people support or oppose defunding the war has asked the question in complete isolation, and public opinion has generally tilted against defunding. But this is to my knowledge the first poll that has asked the question in the political context of the President’s current veto threat and the resultant standoff with Congress. In other words, this question is basically asking whether Americans favor Congress caving to Bush after his veto or whether they want Congress to stand up to him. As you can see, a slightly larger group wants the latter.”
Note to Dems: they’re playing your song.
As for the rest of the poll, the news was also bad for the administration and its allies on the prosecutor purge scandal.
Most Americans believe Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales should resign because of the controversy over his office’s firing of federal prosecutors, and a big majority want White House aides to testify under oath about the issue, the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll has found.
The survey, conducted Thursday through Monday, found that 53% said Gonzales should step down because he claimed he had no role in the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys last year — an account later contradicted by Justice Department documents and congressional testimony by his top assistant.
Senate and House Democratic leaders have asked White House aides to testify under oath about the firings, in part to answer questions about the roles of Gonzales and Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political strategist. Bush has rejected those requests, but the poll found that 74% of the public believes his aides, including Rove, should comply.
Even among Republicans, 49% said they thought the aides should testify; 43% said they should not.
“I don’t know whether Gonzales needs to resign; I think he’s going to have to seriously think about it,” said David Brennan, 43, a poll respondent who is a telephone technician in Bend, Ore., and described himself as a conservative Republican. “But I do think, no matter what, [the aides] should have to speak about it under oath. They should tell the truth, Republican or Democrat.”
I seem to recall hearing something about an administration public-relations offense, restoring Gonzales’ credibility and assuring voters that the scandal isn’t as bad as it appears. How’s that working out for them?