Is the Iraq War Worth the Loss of U.S. Lives? Survey Says…

…no, with 58 percent of respondents in a new Zogby poll saying the war is not worth the loss of American lives. Broken down along partisan lines, one-third of Republicans say it's not worth it, three-quarters of Dems say it isn't, and two-third of independents say no.

In other findings, 80 percent of Americans would consent to video surveillance of public places "if it meant increased protection from terrrorist acts." Only about one-third of Americans would consent to their mail being searched of phone conversations listened in to at random (not that what we think matters). About half of Americans overall–and two-thirds of Republicans–believe there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 attacks.

Zogby's spin re: the midterm elections:

"Most Republicans said it was right for the U.S. to expand the war on terrorism by attacking Iraq, that there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 terror attacks, and that they believe the government should have the right to conduct searches of personal property and telephone conversations to find terrorists. Most Democrats disagree on every point.

"If I were advising Democrats, I would tell them to energize their base on this issue. If I were advising Republicans, I would tell them to energize their base on this issue. The difference is, the President is doing this right now. The Democrats are not."

Which strikes me as pollster-ese for "Just win, baby." Really, thanks for the insights.

More details here, including breakdowns by Dem, GOP, and Independent affiliations.

And in case you're wondering about the overall distribution of party affiliation, here's the score from Gallup: a little less than one-third call themselves GOPpers, around one-third call themselves Dems, and the rest are Indies.

And here's the score from Harris, which charts a long, slow decline for Dems from 50 percent of voters circa 1970 to only 34 percent in 2004, Republicans holding steady at a bit less than one-third over the same period, and Indies clocking in at around one-quarter of the vote.