The most recent Peach State Poll, a quarterly survey of public opinion conducted by UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, found that 47 percent of Georgians thought that sending American troops into Iraq was a mistake; another 47 percent say it was not a mistake. The remaining 6 percent are undecided.
Georgians are, however, less likely to consider the decision to send troops into Iraq a mistake than are Americans as a whole, and 79 percent express a high level of confidence in the U.S. military. Georgians’ approval level of the president’s handling of his job and their views on the U.S. economy are very similar to those of other Americans.
The poll also finds a high level of dissatisfaction with the federal government’s response to the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
A plurality of Georgians (47 percent) characterizes the federal government’s response as poor. African Americans (59 percent) were also much more likely than Georgians generally (40 percent) to say that the federal government should pay most of the costs of rebuilding the damaged areas.