Flash Poll: Instant Reaction to Bush's Iraq Speech

Speech watchers become somewhat more positive on war

Those who watched President Bush's speech Tuesday night now hold a slightly more positive outlook on the war than they did before the address, even though the speech itself was not rated as positively as others Bush has given. Compared with their responses before the speech, people who tuned in are now more likely to say the United States and its allies are winning the Iraq war, that Bush has a clear plan for handling the war, and that the United States should keep troops in Iraq until the situation there gets better. The audience was apparently rather small and composed largely of Bush supporters -- 50% of those who tuned in were Republicans, a much higher proportion than exists in the general population but similar to what Gallup has found in polling following other Bush speeches.

Overall, the sample of 323 speech watchers rated Bush's speech in positive terms -- with 46% describing their reaction as "very positive" and an additional 28% "somewhat positive." That is well below average when compared with other major speeches Bush has given, which have averaged a 60% very positive rating in similar flash polls. That includes a 67% very positive rating for the famous "Mission Accomplished" speech he gave aboard an aircraft carrier in May 2003, in which he declared the major fighting phase of the Iraq war to be over.

What was your overall reaction to Bush's speech tonight -- [ROTATED: very positive, somewhat positive, somewhat negative, (or) very negative]?