NO CONFIDENCE – AT 6:59 P.M. ET:  In countries with parliamentary systems, this might lead to a no-confidence vote:

Belief that the bad guys are winning the War on Terror is now at its highest level in over two years, and nearly half of U.S. voters say America is not safer than it was before 9/11.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 30% of voters think the terrorists are winning the War on Terror. That’s the first time the number holding that pessimistic view has reached 30% since October 2007.

Just 18% believed the terrorists were winning the week President Obama took office in January. At that time, 55% said America and its allies were on top. Now, just 36% say the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror. Only once since July 2007 have voters had less confidence.

This speaks powerfully to the loss of confidence in the Obama administration.  Obama was sold to us as the man who understood the world.  Unfortunately, it's not the world any of us actually live in.

Just 27% now say that the United States is safer today than it was before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. However, 47% say it is not, That latter figure marks a nine-point jump from earlier in the month and is the highest negative finding on the question since Rasmussen Reports began surveying on it in 2002.

The people are speaking.  But will the boys in Washington listen?  Maybe not.  These figures are startling:

Seventy-five percent (75%) of the Political Class say the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror. Mainstream voters are more narrowly divided on the question.

Similarly, 72% of the Political Class says the United States is safer today than before 9/11, but 54% of Mainstream voters disagree.

I suspect that the "political class" is more optimistic simply because its members don't want to deal with terrorism.  Not chic.  Not hip.  Not edgy.

I'll trust the people on this one.

December 30,  2009