Feeling Better . . . about Afghanistan
17th December 2009
My prediction is accurate:
“Obama’s approval rating on Afghanistan is 52 percent, according to an Associated Press-Gfk poll. That’s an increase of 10 percentage points from a survey a month earlier.”
And this is not a halo effect. Mr. Obama’s rating on other issues, like health care reform, is down.
Majority support gives the Long War effort time to work and work out. I said it then and I’ll say it again: Mr. Obama threaded a needle with the West Point speech. He didn’t lose his base while maintaining a dangerous, but necessary long term policy. Lots of people are unhappy, disappointed, or uncertain, but they still back the policy.
Make the best of this.
Mr. Obama needs to handle the base.
The military needs to handle The Base.
Remember the say-do gap.