The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that a majority of Americans support the actions of activist mom Cindy Sheehan and believe that the president should meet with her.
According to the poll, 52 percent of those surveyed say that the president should talk to Mrs. Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq last year while 46 percent say he should not. Meanwhile, 53 percent of Americans support Mrs. Sheehan's actions in holding a vigil outside of Mr. Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch while 42 percent oppose her actions.
Sheehan started her vigil in Crawford on August 6, taking a one-week break when she returned to California to help care for her ailing mother. Mrs. Sheehan wants to discuss the war with the president and wants to know for what 'noble cause' her son died for.
Mr. Bush has been on a five-week long vacation at his ranch but has refused to meet with Mrs. Sheehan. She plans a bus tour which will end in Washington, DC on September 24 with a 24-hour vigil against the war.
Not surprisingly, the poll found Americans divided sharply along partisan lines. Roughly 70 percent of Democrats support Mrs. Sheehan's position on the ongoing war in Iraq while a like number of Republicans are opposed.
Interestingly enough, while the press has given Sheehan credit for galvanizing the anti-war movement, 80 percent of Americans say Sheehan's actions have not changed their attitudes towards to the war. The remaining 20 percent are split down the middle with 10 percent saying Mrs. Sheehan makes them more likely to support the war and 10 percent saying her actions make them more likely to oppose it.
The survey was conducted between August 25 and August 28. A total of 1,006 adults were selected at random throughout the country. The margin or error for the poll is plus or minus three percent.
