XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: ahickman@craftx.com   
      
   For the first time in his presidency, more Americans disapprove   
   of President Obama’s handling of terrorism than approve of it,   
   as discontent about his management of foreign affairs and the   
   fight against Sunni militants in Iraq and Syria weighs on an   
   anxious and conflicted public, according to the latest New York   
   Times/CBS News Poll.   
      
   As Mr. Obama broadens the military offensive against Islamic   
   extremists, the survey finds broad support for United States   
   airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, but it also demonstrates how torn   
   Americans are about wading back into battle in the Middle East.   
   A majority is opposed to committing ground forces there, amid   
   sweeping concern that increased American participation will lead   
   to a long and costly mission.   
      
   At the same time, with Americans’ fears about a terrorist attack   
   on United States soil on the rise, the public is questioning Mr.   
   Obama’s strategy for combating the militant organization calling   
   itself the Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State in   
   Iraq and Syria. Most respondents say the president has no clear   
   plan for confronting the group, and that he has not been tough   
   enough in dealing with it.   
      
   “He is ambivalent, and I think it shows,” Jennifer Shelton-   
   Armstrong, a 45-year-old Democrat in Mission Viejo, California,   
   said in a follow-up interview. “There is no clear plan.”   
      
   Mr. Obama has lost considerable ground with the public in the   
   month since he announced military action against the Islamic   
   State, which also saw the group release two videotapes showing   
   the beheadings of American journalists. Fifty-eight percent now   
   disapprove of his handling of foreign policy, a 10-point jump   
   from a CBS News poll conducted last month. Fifty percent rate   
   him negatively on handling terrorism, a 12-point increase from   
   March, compared with 41 percent who rate him positively, while   
   the rest had no opinion.   
      
   Taken together, the results suggest a profoundly unsettled   
   public mood, with two-thirds of Americans surveyed saying the   
   country is on the wrong track and half disapproving of how Mr.   
   Obama is doing his job, a negative assessment that threatens to   
   be a substantial drag on Democrats going into the midterm   
   elections in November.   
      
   Still, the public is sending some mixed signals. For instance,   
   while Americans give Mr. Obama low marks on handling terrorism,   
   foreign policy and the Islamic State, they say they back the   
   prescription he has laid out to counter the militants —   
   airstrikes and no combat troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria.   
   Respondents also said Republicans would do a better job on two   
   of their top issues — terrorism and the economy — even though   
   they disapprove of congressional Republicans in greater numbers   
   than they do congressional Democrats   
      
   The poll numbers present a steep climb for the president as he   
   seeks to rally public support for the effort against Islamic   
   State, just as Democrats are seeking ways to motivate their core   
   supporters, who include antiwar voters. Mr. Obama’s job approval   
   ratings are strikingly similar to those of George W. Bush at the   
   same point in his second term in office in 2006, when Americans’   
   war fatigue helped Democrats sweep both houses of Congress in   
   what Mr. Bush later called “a thumping.”   
      
   The poll shows Republicans having gained sharply with voters   
   ahead of the November balloting, with 45 percent of likely   
   voters saying they will back Republicans in November’s contests   
   for the House of Representatives, compared with 39 percent who   
   say they will back Democrats.   
      
   While the survey shows both political parties deeply unpopular,   
   Republicans fare worse than Democrats, with a majority of their   
   own voters giving the Republicans low marks for their   
   performance in Congress. But Mr. Obama’s poor standing is   
   proving a rallying point for his disaffected political   
   opposition; 55 percent of Republicans said their vote for   
   Congress would be a vote against the president.   
      
   “It’s a vote for the lesser of two evils and a vote against   
   Obama,” said John Durr, a 71-year-old independent in Virginia   
   Beach, Va., who listed economic issues and recent “scandals”   
   involving the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of   
   Justice’s “Fast and Furious” program, and the attack on an   
   American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, as among the   
   reasons he would vote Republican in November. “We’ve lost world   
   respect. I don’t think he has a foreign policy; we’re just   
   reacting.”   
      
   The nationwide poll was conducted from Sept. 12 through Sept. 15   
   by landline and cellphone among 1,009 adults and has a margin of   
   sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for all   
   adults and plus or minus 4 percent for likely voters.   
      
   The findings represent the first time since he became president   
   that more Americans rate Mr. Obama negatively on terrorism than   
   they do positively. Despite his low ratings on terrorism and   
   foreign policy, a majority says it has confidence in Mr. Obama’s   
   ability to handle an international crisis. And while most   
   Americans continue to say the United States should not take the   
   leading role in trying to solve international conflicts, that   
   view is losing ground.   
      
   Fifty-four percent say the United States should not play the   
   primary role, compared with 58 percent in June and 65 percent in   
   February. The results help explain the political predicament   
   facing Mr. Obama with his Democratic base, which includes an   
   antiwar faction that is less enthusiastic than Republicans about   
   airstrikes, while his Republican critics are considerably more   
   hawkish and worried that the president is projecting weakness.   
      
   “My fear is he won’t go far enough — I think he should go   
   further,” said Richard Kline, 56, an engineer and Republican in   
   Indianola, Iowa. “I’d rather see them fought over there than   
   over here.”   
      
   While Democrats are more positive about Mr. Obama’s management   
   of foreign policy crises and terrorism, a third of them say he   
   has no clear plan for countering the Islamic State and two   
   fifths of Democrats say he is not being tough enough.   
      
   Most Americans — nearly 6 in 10 — say they view the Islamic   
   State as a major threat to the security of the United States,   
   and 7 in 10 support airstrikes against the group, including   
   majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents. Still, on   
   the issue of sending ground troops, opposed by 55 percent of   
   respondents, the parties diverge, with most Republicans in favor   
   and Democrats and independents opposed.   
      
   “I’m glad President Obama is not too hawkish,” said Margaret   
   Scioli, 67, a retired electrocardiogram technician and Democrat   
   in Melrose, Mass. “It’s easy to get into wars, but hard to get   
   out of them.”   
      
   The split comes amid a debate, including inside the Obama   
   administration, about whether ground troops may ultimately be   
   necessary to confront the Islamic State.   
      
   Mr. Obama on Wednesday renewed his vow not to involve American   
      
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