Early this month,
Iraq insisted on a withdrawal timeline as a condition of negotiating on permanent bases or the continued role of US forces. Iraq is a core issue among party actives, but is a
distinctly second place issue among most voters, according to a recent Quinnipiac - washingtonpost.com - Wall Street Journal poll. It was named a priority "by less than one in five respondent" in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin:
Asked whether they would prefer a "fixed date" for withdrawal or to "keep troops in Iraq until the situation is more stable," majorities in all four states preferred the latter option despite the fact that similar majorities in each state say that America was wrong to go to war in Iraq.
Comments
This seems like a rather biased question as stated and your interpretation seems to further twist it.
The question as written implies that the answers are mutually exclusive which is most definitely not the case. The assumption the question sets up in the answerer’s mind is that if we set a definite date, we will leave while the situation is “less stable”. Assuming that we continue to try to stabilize the situation between today and whatever “fixed date” is set, leaving on a fixed date would also be “leaving when the situation is more stable”. If the second alternative had been the true negation of the first – “Keep the troops in Iraq with no definite end date, perhaps indefinitely” – I doubt that the poll would have received the same numbers back.
Then your statement, based on a badly worded question about a single issue in the war, is that Iraq as a whole is a “distinctly second rate issue” with voters. This doesn’t follow at all. There is nothing whatsoever in the question that has any sort of implication for the importance of Iraq to the answerer. People who find Iraq a terribly important issue could answer either way on this question. Where did you get the idea that wanting to “keep troops in Iraq until the situation is more stable” is equivalent to “I think Iraq is a second rate issue”?
First, my quick polls — like every other Web poll — is not designed to be statistically valid.
Second, Iraq is demanding a withdrawal date. Bush et al have refused to set a withdrawal date/goal. That’s why the question is worded as it is.
Finally, the paragraph you are questioning is QUOTED text … not my deduction but that of the writer of the linked article, which provides the background for the summary statement.