http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4808246/
Two national surveys released this week, the Washington Post poll and the Gallup poll, show President Bush ahead of John Kerry — this despite three weeks of grim news from Iraq, TV images of U.S. casualties and criticism of Bush from witnesses before the Sept. 11 commission.
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One might think the Iraq turmoil would be bad news for Bush’s chances of re-election, yet voters see Bush as stronger and more capable of dealing with national security. Two-thirds of the people in the Post survey said the United States should stay in Iraq until order is restored.
Bush, emphatically running on a national security platform, reminded Americans this week the country is still vulnerable to attack: Americans “saw what happened in Madrid” with the last month’s train bombing, implying it could happen here as well. “This is a hard country to defend.”