Gallup poll: Obama War Plan Finds Bipartisan Support->Democrats (58%) AND Republicans (55%) i

PRINCETON, NJ -- President Obama has managed to thread the needle with his newly announced Afghanistan strategy, with his approach winning the approval of a majority of both Democrats (58%) and Republicans (55%) in a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Wednesday night. At the same time, less than a majority of independents approve (45%). Among Americans overall, 51% approve of the strategy while 40% disapprove.

The question used in Wednesday's poll explicitly associated the policy with President Obama, and included a reference to both the increase of 30,000 U.S. troops and the setting of a timetable that calls for the U.S. to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in 2011.

The overall 51% positive reaction to the new policy is slightly higher than the 47% who in a November poll (before Obama's new policy was announced) supported the basic concept of increasing troops in Afghanistan.

The rough similarity between the responses to two questions on Afghanistan masks a significant difference in partisan sentiment. When asked earlier about just sending troops, Democrats were much less likely than Republicans to be in favor. Now, in response to the new question asking specifically about Obama's multipart strategy, including references to increasing troops and to the timetable, Democrats and Republicans show similar levels of support. (Independents' attitudes are roughly the same in both polls.)

More generally, Obama's new policy has managed to bridge the pre-existing partisan gap on this issue to some degree, bringing the support levels of Democrats and Republicans closer together. This is an unusual situation. Most major policy initiatives that a president promulgates find support among the president's own party and opposition among the other party. In the current situation, Obama has, at least in the short term, generated majority support among Democrats -- who previously had been opposed to a troop increase in Afghanistan -- while holding on to majority support among Republicans. Obama's continuing problem appears to be independents, less than half of whom support the new policy.

The survey included questions asking Americans to evaluate two key components of Obama's new policy: the level of new U.S. troops being sent to Afghanistan, and the setting of a specific timetable for beginning to withdraw troops.

Overall, Americans are split on the troop-level component. Most believe that the number of new troops being sent as part of the new strategy is either too high (36%) or about right (38%). Relatively few Americans believe the number of additional troops is "too low" (18%).

[link to www.gallup.com]