Poll shows 76 percent of Californians support war

SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; A strong majority of Californians support
the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, even in the politically liberal San
Francisco Bay area, according to a poll released Tuesday.

In the first statewide survey published since the war began, 76
percent of Californians questioned in the Field Poll said they
support the war, putting the state in line with findings from
recent national polls.

Last September, the Field Institute found 58 percent of
respondents supported military intervention.

That jump apparently helped buoy Californians’ opinion of
President Bush, whose approval rating sat at 61 percent, reversing
a yearlong downward trend.

The poll of 1,006 Californians was conducted over six days
ending Sunday, as the news out of Iraq improved for American
forces. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage
points.

More than 80 percent of those surveyed said the war is going
well. Strong majorities also said they expect the war could be over
within several months, with fewer than 1,000 U.S. casualties.

Although support for the war was lower in the Bay Area than the
rest of the state, 63 percent of residents supported the war.

“˜”˜The stereotype that one would have of the Bay Area
would be that it is one of the hotbeds of the anti-war
movement,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the San
Francisco-based poll. “˜”˜For a poll to show strong
support of the war here ““ that’s major
news.”

Californians’ impression of how well the war is going
seemed to build steam.

Last week, 1 in 3 of those questioned said the war was going
“˜”˜very well.” By the weekend, that number
had risen to 1 in 2.