Dissention In The Ranks?

A major segment of Pres. Bush's base could be erroding, thanks to the war in Iraq, according to a new and surprising poll. The annual survey by the Military Times shows a dramatic drop in support for the war among, of all people, active-duty service members.

Conducted by mail beginning the week after the midterms, the poll shows just 35% of service members approve of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq, down from 63% in the '04 poll and 54% last year. 42% currently disapprove, marking '06 as the first time more troops have disapproved than approved. Bush's general job approval is slightly higher, at 52% approve to 31% disapprove. That's still 19 points lower than the '04 survey, which had Bush with 71% approval.

Success, say service members, is still likely -- though just 50% say so. 41% say the US is not very or not at all likely to succeed. Only 41% say the US should have gone to war at all, while 37% say the US shouldn't have.

The poll generated a lot of buzz in the lefty blogosphere. DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas highlights the pollsters description of the sample: "the survey's respondents are on average older, more experienced, more likely to be officers and more career-oriented than the overall military population." Kos comments: "In other words, we're talking about the most conservative segment of the military. These are lifers. (The enlisted ranks are far more liberal, drawn mostly from poor African American, Latino, and Anglo demographics, though also young thus politically disengaged.)"

Following the story through 1/2 Greg Sargent and Washington Monthly guest poster Steve Benen wonder why more MSM outlets have not picked up on the story. Benen writes: "For reasons that are unclear, the media seems to have missed the poll entirely."

Only the San Jose Mercury News and the Seattle Times ran stories of their own, while Reuters and UPI mentioned the poll in wire stories.

The Military Times made headlines in 11/06 by calling on ex-Def. Sec. Donald Rumsfeld to resign. That call prompted outrage on the right from those who questioned the company's independence. Some noted that USA Today owner Gannett had recently taken over all four of their publications.

While blogosphere reaction is sure to continue, the numbers are sure to add to heart burn some members of the administration must be feeling [CONN CARROLL and REID WILSON].