...the numbers were on a CNN report from Gallup and they *were* at the E&P link at one point. Will post transcript when it arrives, and all the trolls can cry.
...ah, here we are:
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Well, Americans are focused on their own upcoming election. And tonight, Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator John Edwards take center stage at their one and only debate. So, how does the public view the vice presidential candidates? For that answer and more, we go to Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport, live from Princeton, New Jersey -- Frank?
FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP: Hello, Kyra.
Indeed, Dick Cheney, not surprisingly, has more negative baggage than John Edwards going into the debate tonight. That's how I would summarize it.
Here's our latest September favorable/unfavorable ratings on the two VP candidates. Dick Cheney over here, 48 favorable, 44 unfavorable -- so, roughly balanced. John Edwards relatively untouched by a lot of negativity, so far -- 56 favorable, 30 unfavorable. So, he goes in with a more positive image. We'll see how he comes out of the debate tonight.
Who's going to win? It's the expectations game, of course, for all these debates. Bush was favored going into the first one; our data show he didn't win. Who's favored tonight? The public splits, Kyra, right down the middle: 40 percent say Cheney, 42 John Edwards. So, no favorite going into tonight's proceedings there in Cleveland.
PHILLIPS: All right. Where do Americans stand on Iraq?
NEWPORT: Well, that's an important question that's clearly been the focus of the first debate. It may come up tonight, of course.
We've seen it change. The question that we've been asking about wars here at Gallup since the Korean War: Was it a mistake to get involved? And the percentage say yes -- it's this bottom line -- right after the Republican convention, it had dropped. Only 38 percent of Americans right here said it was a mistake. In other words, that was more positive about the Iraqi war. Only 38 saying it was a mistake.
But the percent saying it was a mistake has gone up. We're now -- we're at split half and half: 48 say it was a mistake, and 51 percent say not. So, we're kind of back where we were -- America split right down the middle in terms of perceptions of the Iraq war at this point, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, do Americans agree with Kerry's statement during his debate that Osama bin Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks and not Saddam Hussein?
NEWPORT: Well, that's the key issue. You know, all these comments by Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defense, have come into the fore even yesterday and today. It's very political.
This is fascinating. Look carefully. If you're a Republican, 62 percent say, yes, Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the 9/11 attacks. Almost two thirds say yes. But Democrats and Republicans, exactly as many, two thirds say, no, there was no connection.
Phillips, also, is apparently too stupid to breathe.