Some good news: Not all Americans are stupid

Foreign affairs is a topic almost never discussed in U.S. political campaigns, based on the assumption that voters just don't care, uninterested as they usually are in anything outside their own communities, let alone the borders of the U.S. Well, maybe it's time for Democrats to rethink that, even for a mid-term election.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are anxious about the direction of U.S. foreign policy and how the country is perceived overseas and a majority believe the government has been too quick to go to war, a survey released on Tuesday said.

"Contrary to conventional wisdom that the American public doesn't know and doesn't care how it is seen abroad, strong majorities" believe the U.S. image overseas is suffering and "large majorities are worried about it," the survey concluded.

Some 63 percent of Americans say the charge that the United States has been too quick to go to war is justified and three-quarters worry about losing trust abroad and about the growing hatred of the United States in Muslim countries, it said.

"So far, public thinking is a disquieting mix of high anxiety, growing uncertainty about current policy and virtually no consensus about what else the country might do," the survey concluded.

The national survey of 1,004 American adults between June 1 and June 13 was conducted by the Public Agenda, a non-profit organization dedicated to public policy research, in conjunction with Foreign Affairs magazine, which is published by the Council on Foreign Relations.

It was funded by the Ford Foundation and is intended to be the first in a series of surveys designed to produce a "foreign policy index" that measures long-term U.S. thinking on foreign policy.

Dan Yankelovich, Public Agenda's chairman, declined to describe the results as a reprimand of the Bush administration but said "there is definitely dissatisfaction ... a feeling that we're not on the right track."

Although much of the concern focused on Iraq and U.S. relations with Muslim countries, the survey found that the problems of illegal immigration and the outsourcing of American jobs overseas also resonated strongly with the public.

These issues have received less attention from political leaders but the survey found that attitudes "are reaching a point where the public's concerns will be too strong to be ignored."

Some 64 percent of respondents said the U.S. government should put more emphasis on using diplomatic and economic methods to fight terrorism and 72 percent said that showing more respect for the views and needs of other countries would enhance U.S. security.

But the public also believed strongly in the United States as a force for humanitarian good, with 83 percent giving the country high marks for helping other countries during natural disasters, the survey found.

Inarestin'. Jean Schmidt barely ekes out a victory in a reliable Republican district, winning only because some "technical problems" get worked out at the last minute. In fact, she beat a candidate who called Bush a "chickenhawk" in a district that went 64% to Bush less than two years ago. Yes, I know that redistricting means that sitting Congressmen are virtually elected for life, and perhaps the Rove machine does really have its hands around the throat of the electorate for the foreseeable future. But the Cheney administration's mishandling of the economy, terrorism, foreign policy, the war in Iraq, North Korea and Iran nuclear positions, terrorism (did I mention Iraq?) etc., as well as the corruption of the Republican Peoples Deputies and their role in enabling the administration's considerable failures may be beginning to dawn on a very large number of voters.

In 2000, voters were fat and happy, complacent after eight years of Democratic governing. We were at peace. The economy had never been stronger. Why not make a change?

Approaching six year later. Six years with a Republican in the White House and the last four with Republicans controlling the legislative as well as the executive branches. Now the voters grow uneasy. Very uneasy.