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DON'T CLOSE GUANTANAMO?

Here are the results of a poll released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports  -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."

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Guantanamo_prison_nyreblog_com_.jpgVoters Give Mixed Reviews to Closing of Guantanamo Prison

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

U.S. voters are closely divided over whether the government should close the terrorist prison camp at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba.

Forty-four percent (44%) agree with President Obama's decision to close the camp within the next year, while 42% disagree in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure which is the best course to follow.

In late November of last year, just 32% of voters said the Guantanamo prison camp should be closed . Forty-nine percent (49%) opposed closing the prison despite growing complaints by human rights groups and many foreign countries.

Democrats have changed their minds far more than Republicans. In November, 47% of Democrats favored closing the Guantanamo prison, while 79% of Republicans disagreed. Now 71% of Democrats agree with Obama's decision to close it, with 68% of GOP voters opposed. The views of unaffiliated voters' are little changed.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters, however, still say safety is more important to them than fairness in determining where the terrorist suspects should be imprisoned. Just 19% put more emphasis on fairness, while 13% are not sure which is more important. These numbers are virtually unchanged from the findings in November.

While the Obama administration tries to figure out to deal with the more than 200 inmates in the prison camp, a majority of voters also continue to believe they should not have the same legal status as prisoners here at home.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) say the suspected terrorists at Guantanamo should not be given all the rights of U.S. citizens. Only 16% disagree, and 15% are not sure.

Just 26% say the suspected terrorists should be tried in U.S. courts. Fifty-nine percent (59%) support the Bush Administration position that they should be tried by military tribunals. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.

Again, the responses to both these questions are almost identical to those in a survey last July .

Forty-two percent (42%) of voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Obama is performing as president in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index . Nineteen percent (19%) Strongly Disapprove. These numbers reflect a continuing slight drop-off from his record high numbers for the past several weeks.

Eighty percent (80%) of Republicans say safety is more important than fairness in determining where terrorist suspects should be imprisoned, as do 55% of Democrats and 73% of unaffiliated voters. Twenty-seven percent (27%) of Democrats think fairness should be the priority, a view shared by just 16% of unaffiliateds and 11% of Republicans.

Similarly, Democrats are less opposed to treating suspected terrorists like U.S. citizens than are Republicans and unaffiliated voters. While 84% of GOP voters and 65% of unaffiliateds oppose giving suspected terrorists all the rights of U.S. citizens while they are being tried, just 59% of Democrats agree.

While two-thirds of Republicans (67%) and unaffiliated voters (66%) say terrorist suspects should be tried by military tribunals, Democrats are more evenly divided. Forty-six percent (46%) of Democrats think a military tribunal is fine while 35% say they should be tried in U.S. courts.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of voters say they have followed news stories about Obama's decision to close the Guantanamo camp Very Closely. Only four percent (4%) say they have not followed the news at all.

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To download a copy of the actual article, please use this link:  Close Guantanamo?

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