Americans more positive about U.S. fight against ISIS
By Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus, Kabir Khanna and Anthony Salvanto
Positive views on America's fight against ISIS are now at their highest levels since this poll began measuring them in 2014, with a 53 percent majority now saying that fight is going very or somewhat well.
That's propelled by Republicans whose views have undergone a sharp upturn with President Trump in office: Just 16 percent said the fight was going well in September. Now, 72 percent say it's going well, a 56-point increase. Independents are also more positive now than they were under President Obama.
On handling the situation in Syria, there is no greater confidence now than there was just after President Trump ordered a missile strike against a Syrian air base. Again, there are large partisan gaps, with most Democrats and independents uneasy.
Partisans differ sharply on views of President Trump as commander in chief as they do on many evaluations at the 100-day mark. Republicans are confident in him, including a majority who say they're "very" confident; independents are mixed, and Democrats negative.
More Americans think Mr. Trump is making the U.S. image in the world weaker (46 percent) than think he's making it stronger (36 percent). Again, partisan divisions are stark, with three in four Republicans saying stronger and three in four Democrats saying weaker.
This poll was conducted by telephone April 21-24, 2017 among a random sample of 1,214 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Media, PA. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones.
The poll employed a random digit dial methodology. For the landline sample, a respondent was randomly selected from all adults in the household. For the cell sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone.
Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using live interviewers. The data have been weighted to reflect U.S. Census figures on demographic variables.
The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher and is available by request. The margin of error includes the effects of standard weighting procedures which enlarge sampling error slightly.
This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
