O.C. Backs Military Action, Poll Shows

As the nation braces for a possible ground assault in the Persian Gulf, Orange County residents show overwhelming--and growing--support for both the military effort there and for President Bush’s handling of it, a new poll shows.

With little distinction between rich and poor, men and women, 87% of county residents taking part in this week’s Times Orange County Poll said they approve of the military action now under way against Iraq.

A nationwide poll by The Times published Tuesday found 81% of the country supports the war.

And with support for Bush at an all-time high in Orange County, 88% of the respondents in the local poll said the President has done a good or excellent job of handling the crisis, up 24 points since the prewar days of October.

“You don’t often see such overwhelming, striking consensus in a poll, even in Orange County,” said pollster Mark Baldassare, whose firm, Mark Baldassare & Associates, surveyed 600 Orange County adult residents by telephone from Feb. 16 through 18, using a computer-generated random sample.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.

One explanation for the strong support may be that nearly six in 10 respondents said they know someone now stationed in the Gulf. An estimated 35,000 Marines and other military personnel, from bases at El Toro, Tustin and Camp Pendleton just south of the county border, are now deployed in the Gulf.

“My next-door neighbor’s son is in there refueling jet airplanes, and he says they’re ready,” said poll respondent Ben Wood, 49, of Buena Park, a teacher and gun shop owner. “That tells me that our President did a good job with our military. Mr. Bush is one of the finest Presidents. He thinks things out first--he doesn’t jump in.”

Wood, a registered Democrat, added: “I strongly believe in (the war). We need freedom, and this is the only way that America’s going to be free.”

On attitudes toward the war and President Bush’s handling of it, those respondents who said they knew service people in the Gulf demonstrated a consistently more pro-military posture, by solid margins of seven to 12 percentage points.

One issue that clearly divided respondents was their optimism about the war’s end: Those who approved of the war effort were much more likely to predict that an allied victory would take less than six months. Overall, two in three think that the war will end in less than six months.

The war clearly has stirred strong feelings among residents, with few left undecided. Only 3% of the respondents in the poll said they did not know whether they approved or disapproved of the war, a much smaller number than would ordinarily be found in a political poll.

Those in Orange County who said they favored the war effort dwarfed those who said they were against it by a margin of nearly 9 to 1, or 87% approving as opposed to 10% disapproving.

Age, sex and income mattered little, with all demographic groups expressing overwhelming approval. And while support for the military action was strongest among Republicans, with 94% supporting the war effort, even a solid 78% of Democrats approved.

The poll appeared to mark a hardening of county attitudes toward acceptance of military force in the past few months.

In October, when U.S. forces were massed on the Kuwaiti border for Operation Desert Shield, a Times Orange County Poll found that 63% of local residents said they most favored a defense of Saudi Arabia as a military option, with only 18% favoring an attack into Kuwait.

“If something was not done, we probably would pay the price for it later down the line--(Saddam) Hussein would have tried to take over other countries,” explained poll respondent Kara Zebrowski, 27, a travel agent from Yorba Linda and a supporter of the current offensive.

The deaths last week of several hundred Iraqi civilians during a bombing of what U.S. officials described as a military installation did not appear to dampen support for the air attacks. More than eight out of every 10 respondents said the United States should continue to bomb military installations in Iraq, even if it means civilian casualties.

But as strong as Orange County support for the war appears to be, the prospect of a ground war and the large-scale casualties that it could bring appear to spark much more ambiguous feelings, according to interviews with some of the poll respondents.

For instance, Wood, who approves of the war effort, said: “I would like to hold back on (the ground war) and continue the bombing to the point where we should be able to walk in very, very slowly.”

However, Werner Baisch, a 65-year-old German immigrant who says the United States applied a “double standard” in its handling of the situation and never should have gotten into the war, said he now grudgingly favors a ground offensive.

“We have committed ourselves this far,” Baisch said. “We’ll look foolish in the eyes of the world if we don’t finish it now.”

Said Zebrowski: “It’s heart-wrenching. I really hate to see (a ground war), but I’d support it. I just hope it’s short.”

TIMES ORANGE COUNTY POLL

The Times Orange County Poll was conducted by Mark Baldassare & Associates. The phone survey of 600 Orange County adults was conducted Feb. 16 through 18 using a computer-generated random sample of listed and unlisted telephone numbers. An equal number of men and women were interviewed.

APPROVAL OF THE WAR EFFORT

“Generally speaking, do you approve or disapprove of the U.S. military action against Iraq now under way in the Persian Gulf?”

Approve Disapprove Don’t Know Total 87% 10% 3% Republican 94 5 1 Democrat 78 17 5

BOMBING IRAQ’S CITIES

“Should the U.S. military continue to bomb the military installations in Iraqi cities, even if it means there will be civilian casualties?”

Yes No Don’t Know Total 84% 10% 6% BY AGE 18-34 80 12 8 35-54 84 9 7 55 + 90 6 4 BY PARTY AFFILIATION Republican 92 5 3 Democrat 79 13 8

WAR GOALS

“In your opinion, should the goal of the U.S. military action to free Kuwait be expanded to include removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq?”

Yes No Don’t Know Total 81% 15% 4% Republican 86 10 4 Democrat 76 21 3

BUSH’S POPULARITY

“Overall, do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of President Bush?”

Favorable Unfavorable Don’t Know January, 1989 70% 17% 13% October, 1990 77 16 7 February, 1991 83 12 5 Republican 95 4 1 Democrat 67 23 10

EFFECT OF KNOWING SOMEONE INVOLVED

The six in 10 county residents who know someone stationed in the Persian Gulf are more approving of the war effort, more supportive of the goal of removing Saddam Hussein, more approving of continued U.S. bombing of Iraqi cities and more positive about President Bush. They are not more likely, however, to think the war will be over soon.

Know Someone in Military Action Yes No Approve U.S. military action 90% 82% Yes to removing Saddam 84 77 Yes to bombing Iraqi cities 88 78 Excellent/Good Bush on Persian Gulf 90 84 Favorable overall Bush rating 87 75 War will end within 6 months 68 64

Source: Times Orange County Poll

Bush’s Handling of the Gulf Crisis

“How would you rate the performance of President Bush in handling the Persian Gulf crisis?”

Oct. 1990 Excellent / Good: 64% Fair / Poor: 33% Don’t know: 3% Feb. 1991 Excellent / Good: 88% Fair / Poor: 11% Don’t know: 1% Democrat Excellent / Good: 80% Fair / Poor: 19% Don’t know: 1% Republican Excellent / Good: 93% Fair / Poor: 6% Don’t know: 1% Source: Times Orange County Poll