For the better part of August, as Cindy Sheehan’s protest has generated attention for her cause and heartburn for the White House, the Bush message machine has tried to marginalize her, suggesting she represents a small, dovish minority.<\/p>\n
It just isn’t true<\/a>.<\/p>\n Slightly more than half of the country says President Bush should meet with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed last year in Iraq, who is leading a protest against the war outside Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Tex., according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.<\/p>\n The survey found that 52 percent of the public says Bush should talk to Sheehan, who has repeatedly asked for a meeting with the president, while 46 percent said he should not. Fifty-three percent support what she is doing while 42 percent oppose her actions, according to the poll.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Post report on the data suggests Sheehan’s efforts have been widely recognized, but aren’t having an impact. Poll respondents had heard about her protests, the Post noted, but Sheehan hasn’t changed many minds. What’s more, support for Sheehan, predictably, falls largely along partisan lines.<\/p>\n But there’s more to the numbers than the Post seems to recognize. Cindy Sheehan has what the president doesn’t — majority support. According to the poll, a clear majority supports her protest and believes she deserves to ask Bush directly about the noble cause for which her son died. In contrast, a clear majority disapproves<\/a> of the way Bush is handling his presidency and objects<\/a> to the way he’s dealt with the war.<\/p>\n