THE SALUTARY WHIFF OF GRAPESHOT:

U.S. Public Support Remains Strong for War Effort: 54% of Americans Believe U.S. Will Sustain 'Significant' Casualties (Richard Morin and Claudia Deane, March 24, 2003, Washington Post)

A total of 580 randomly selected Americans were interviewed Sunday. A separate subsample of 69 African Americans also were interviewed, which brought the total of blacks who participated in this survey to 103. Margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The survey found that the protests at home and abroad have done little to affect public opinion on the war-if anything, they have deepened support among those who already favored using military force against Iraq.

Seven in 10 said the anti-war rallies have not changed their opinion on the conflict. One in five-20 percent-said the protests have made them more likely to back the war, while 7 percent said it has increased their opposition to the conflict.

Six in 10 agreed that the demonstrations were a sign of a healthy democracy, while fewer than four in 10 said opponents should not demonstrate against the war because it was better for the country to appear united. Only one in six said such protests should not be permitted.

Don't look at me--I still think the two best days of 1970 were Kent State and the hard hats in NYC beating up the peace protestors. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 24, 2003 5:16 PM