Southeasterners oppose Iraq escalation

The South used to be the place President Bush could count on for support of the Iraq invasion and "war on terror." But over the last year, the tide has steadily turned in the South, leaving the administration with few safe havens to pitch their foreign policy.

A region-wide poll conducted by the Institute for Southern Studies last October revealed that 56% of Southerners thought "the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq" -- what one Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer called "the most telling" evidence that Bush is "losing" the war ("When you've lost even the South, it's over.").

A new poll in five Southern states by North Carolina's Elon University shows that Southerners are still disillusioned about Iraq -- and don't support escalating the war:

The survey of 719 residents of Florida, Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas shows 57 percent of those questioned disapproved or strongly disapproved of increasing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Sixty-four percent disapproved or strongly disapproved of Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. That compares to 57 percent in a survey of the same states one year ago. The poll shows 31 percent approved or strongly approved of Bush's handling of the war -- down from 39 percent last year.

Most striking is how more people view Iraq as the top issue today -- and yet less believe it will have a satisfying outcome:

When asked to identify the most important issue facing the country, 45 percent of respondents named the war in Iraq, compared to 26 percent in February 2006. An even 50 percent said a stalemate is the most likely outcome for the United States in Iraq, while 56 percent said the war is not worth fighting.

Perhaps this is why in his visit to North Carolina yesterday, President Bush was talking about bio-fuels and not Iraq.