[Mb-civic] Slight Majority Say Bush Should Meet With Sheehan - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Slight Majority Say Bush Should Meet With Sheehan
Survey Suggests Mother's Actions Have Little Impact on War Views

By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 30, 2005; 7:00 AM

Slightly more than half of the country says President Bush should meet 
with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed last year in Iraq, 
who is leading a protest against the war outside Bush's ranch in 
Crawford, Tex., according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey found that 52 percent of the public says Bush should talk to 
Sheehan, who has repeatedly asked for a meeting with the president, 
while 46 percent said he should not. Fifty-three percent support what 
she is doing while 42 percent oppose her actions, according to the poll.

Sheehan began her protest three weeks ago, four days after Bush began a 
five-week vacation at his Crawford ranch. She has repeatedly demanded 
that Bush meet with her to discuss the war. The two met last year at an 
event for military families, and Bush has repeatedly declined another 
meeting. Recently Sheehan announced plans to embark on a bus tour after 
protesters break camp later this week. The bus tour will end in 
Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24 with a 24-hour vigil.

Like the war and Bush's overall handling of the situation in Iraq, 
attitudes toward Sheehan divide along sharply partisan lines. Seven in 
10 Democrats say they support Sheehan's position on Iraq while an equal 
proportion of Republicans oppose her.

In the three weeks since she began her protest, Sheehan has quickly 
become the most visible symbol of the anti-war movement. Fully three in 
four Americans say they have read or heard about Sheehan and her protest.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/30/AR2005083000302.html
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