New Poll: Iowa Republicans Support Withdrawal from Iraq
2 votes
Mitt Romney supports "private" timetable for Iraq withdrawal
Length: 19sec
Strategic Vision conducted the survey between March 30 and April 1, 2007 among 600 likely Republican voters in Iowa. When asked, "[d]o you favor a withdrawal of all United States military from Iraq within the next six months?" fifty-two percent of Republicans said yes. Only thirty-nine percent said no. Nine percent were unsure.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain, who lead the ballot question in the poll with twenty-five and twenty percent respectively, oppose any timeline for withdrawal. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who finished fifth in the poll but who is not an announced candidate, also opposes any withdrawal plan based on a timetable.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who finished fourth in the poll with eight percent, has evolved in his position on the issue of a timetable for withdrawal recently. While he still opposes a public timetable for withdrawing troops, Romney now believes the president and the Iraqi prime minister should establish benchmarks with a private timetable for withdrawal. Romney unveiled his new position on Iraq during his appearance on ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday.
Sen. Sam Brownback, who earned three percent in the Strategic Vision poll, holds a nuanced view of the war. He supports it, but he has opposed President George W. Bush's troop surge plan. However, as The Daily Acts reported, Brownback now supports increasing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Republican support for a timed withdrawal may benefit one prospective candidate who has only hinted he might run, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Hagel is a vocal opponent of the Bush administration's troop surge plan to secure Baghdad and the surrounding areas and has positioned himself as the most identifiably anti-war Republican in Congress. Hagel has said he may enter the presidential contest later this year.
