April 28, 2003
Contact: Ted Apostol,
President or Kathy Deboer, Vice
President
WestGroup Research
(602) 707-0050 Office Phone
(602) 707-0055 Office Fax
ted@westgroupresearch.com
or
kathy@westgroupresearch.com
Favorability for President Bush continues lower; Increasing
numbers believe Hussein dead; Fewer believe weapons of mass destruction
will be found
PHOENIX - The favorability ratings for President George W. Bush among
Arizonans, which declined in late March, remained at the lower level in
April. That is the finding of a just-released telephone survey of 412
Arizona adults by WestGroup Research of Phoenix. The overall study has
a margin of error at a 95% confidence level of + 5%.
In March, favorable ratings for President Bush deteriorated quickly in the first four days of the war as news became less positive, falling from 79% on March 21st the day "Shock and Awe" began, to 65% on March 24th after news of POWs and casualties in Iraq. The decreased rating percentage remained stable in the April wave of the study (April 17-19).
The vast majority of Arizonans continue to believe we were justified
in using military force in Iraq, support the coalition, and rate the war's
success favorably.
|
March 2003
|
April 2003
|
|
|
n=
|
376
|
412
|
| Favorable ratings of President Bush (4 or 5) |
69%
|
65%
|
| President Bush was justified in making the decision to use military force in Iraq. |
73%
|
70%
|
| Support coalition using military action to disarm Iraq. |
83%
|
76%
|
| Favorable ratings of success of the operation (4 or 5) |
70%
|
74%
|
|
March Results by Day
|
|
Day 1
3/21 n=72 |
Day2 3/22 n=78 |
Day 4
3/24 n=228 |
| Favorable ratings of President
Bush (4 or 5) |
69%
|
79%
|
72%
|
65%
|
| President Bush was justified
in making the decision to use military force in Iraq. |
75%
|
82%
|
82%
|
70%
|
| Support coalition using military action
to disarm Iraq. |
83%
|
89%
|
82%
|
82%
|
| Favorable ratings of success of the operation
(4 or 5) |
70%
|
79%
|
78%
|
65%
|
Arizonans opinions on other war issues are as follows:
* After the second bombing attempt to kill Saddam Hussein, more Arizonans
believe he is dead - up from 9% to 28%. Still the majority think he is
probably alive (48%) or are unwilling to guess (25%).
Would you guess that Saddam Hussein is alive or dead?
|
March 2003
|
April 2003
|
|
| n |
376
|
412
|
| Alive |
70%
|
48%
|
| Dead |
9%
|
28%
|
| Don't know |
21%
|
25%
|
* While the majority of Arizonans believe we will find weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq, as time goes on this has faltered - down 16 percentage
points to 69%.
Do you think we will find evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
or not?
|
March 2003
|
April 2003
|
|
| n= |
376
|
412
|
| Yes |
85%
|
69%
|
| No |
7%
|
20%
|
| Don't know |
8%
|
11%
|
* The vast majority of Arizonans continue to say they have little fear
about events in Iraq - 79% rate their fear or apprehension at 3 or below
on a 5 point scale (5=extremely high level of fear, 1=no fear).
Personally, what is your level of fear or apprehension about the events
in Iraq? (5 point scale - 1=No fear or apprehension, 5=Extremely high
level of fear or apprehension)
|
March 2003
|
April 2003
|
|
| n |
376
|
412
|
| 5 Extremely high |
6%
|
10%
|
| 4 |
10%
|
8%
|
| 3 |
25%
|
25%
|
| 2 |
25%
|
24%
|
| 1 No Fear |
31%
|
30%
|
| Don't know |
3%
|
3%
|
