Slightly more than half 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, Texas, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday.
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.
Sheehan began her protest three weeks ago, four days after Bush began a five-week vacation at his Crawford ranch. She has repeatedly demanded that Bush meet with her to discuss the war. The two met last year at an event for military families, and Bush has repeatedly declined another meeting.
Attitudes toward Sheehan divide along sharply partisan lines. Seven in 10 Democrats say they support Sheehan’s position on Iraq while an equal proportion of Republicans oppose her.
Eight in 10 Americans–including overwhelming majorities of Democrats, Republicans and political independents–say Sheehan’s protest has had no impact on their attitudes toward Iraq.
A total of 1,006 randomly selected adults were interviewed by telephone Aug. 25 through 28 for this national survey. The margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
