Here are some poll numbers released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
32% Say Most Islamic Nations Want Peaceful Relations with America
Monday, June 8, 2009
Fewer than one-third of U.S. voters (32%) believe most Islamic nations want to have a positive and peaceful relationship with the United States. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% disagree and 24% are not sure.
In a speech last Thursday in Cairo, Egypt, intended to reach out to Muslims worldwide, President Obama declared, "America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings."
Most U.S. voters (55%) do not believe that America and Islam share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. Only 21% say the two do have these values in common, and again 24% are undecided.
Republicans are much more suspicious about the Islamic world than Democrats are.
But the overall findings suggest that the president has nearly as much work ahead convincing Americans of the need for better relations with the Islamic world as he does convincing Islamic nations of America's good intentions.
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of all voters agree with the president's statement in the Cairo speech that "the United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known." Just 14% disagree, with 17% not sure.
A plurality of Democrats (42%) believes most Islamic nations want a positive and peaceful relationship with the United States. But nearly two-thirds (65%) of Republicans and a plurality of voters not affiliated with either party (41%) do not think most Islamic countries want good relations with America.
Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliateds say American and Islam do not share common principles of justice and tolerance. Democrats are much more closely divided on the question.
A large number of voters were following news accounts of the president's speech in Egypt. Seventy-five percent (75%) say they were following at least somewhat closely, with 44% following very closely. Only seven percent (7%) said they were not following news accounts of the speech at all.
However, just 28% of voters think America's relationship with the Muslim world will be better a year from today , while 21% expect it to get worse. A plurality of voters (45%) expects the relationship to be about the same a year from now.
One of the key areas of disagreement between America and the Islamic world is the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. However, 74% of voters say it is unlikely there will be lasting peace between the Palestinians and Israel within the next decade.
Forty-six percent (46%) of voters believe the United States is safer today than it was before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks while 32% disagree.
Obama's approval ratings seem to have recovered in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll after a couple weeks of volatility driven by events in the news.
# # #
To view the original report, please use this link: Is Peace with Islam Elusive?