THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010


KLMNO


EZ SU A solemn anniversary and a contentious debate anniversary from A1


the White House and conserva- tives such as former Alaska gov- ernor Sarah Palin have criticized Jones’s plan. But experts on public opinion


say the controversy does not represent a significant new shift in attitudes. Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center, said fresh signs of a backlash against Muslims are not showing up broadly in na- tional surveys. “Attitudes are mixed and not as positive as they were eight years ago,” he said, “but there’s no sign of an up- swing in anti-Muslimfervor.” Jones may epitomize the ease


with which someone on the po- litical fringe can draw attention and spark controversy. The de- bate over the proposed Islamic center represents more genuine divisions in the country over the limits of religious freedom and the sacred nature of the ground around where the World Trade Center once stood. A new Washington Post-ABC


News poll finds that two-thirds of Americans oppose building the Islamic center near the for- mer site of the twin towers. Four in five of those opposed say their opposition is strictly because of the location. But 14 percent of the opponents (or 9 percent of all Americans) say they would op- pose building it anywhere in the country. The Post-ABCNews poll found


that roughly half the country (49 percent) holds an unfavorable view of Islam, compared with 37 percent who have a favorable view. That is little changed over the past few years but is more negative than eight years ago. In October 2002, 47 percent said they had a favorable view of Islam and 39 percent said they had an unfavorable view. About a third of the country


now believes that mainstream Islam encourages violence against non-Muslims, while 54 percent see the religion as peace- ful. The percentage seeing it as peaceful has varied little over the past nine years, but the percent- age saying they believe it encour- ages violence is about double what it was in 2002. Attitudes toward the project


in Lower Manhattan are closely related to general perceptions about Islam. Those who hold favorable views toward Islam and see it as a generally peaceful religion are far more likely than others to say the building should move forward. This year’s controversies may


be different in tone and content from those of the past, but the idea that 9/11 has always been a unifying moment is overdrawn. For a time, the attacks sparked a change in the national mood, a coming together across party lines. That quickly gave way to a return to partisan politics—with terrorismat the center of a harsh and sometimes raw debate. That debate changed Ameri-


can politics, throwingDemocrats on the defensive. Republicans under Bush effectively used ter- rorism to their advantage in the midterm election of 2002. In 2004, Republicans staged their national convention in New York as a way to highlight Bush’s actions immediately after the attacks. That convention came at a time when divisions over the Iraq war were less stark than they became a year later. What allowed the partisan


debates to flourish was that the country quickly snapped back to its pre-9/11 attitudes, though memories of the attacks re- mained vivid longer in the East Coast corridor most directly af- fected by them. Depending on one’s views,


thatwas a testament either to the resilience ofAmericans to absorb the worst and keep going or a depressing indicator that the worst terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in history could be so easily set aside in the face of partisan politics.


Security viewed through a partisan lens


Q:


How much confidence do you have in the ability of the U.S. government to prevent further terrorist attacks against Americans in this country?


Percentage saying a great deal or good amount SEPTEMBER 2007SEPTEMBER 2010


All Americans Democrats Independents Republicans


49% 35 44 73


44% 53


39 41


-5


+18 -5


-32


SOURCE: Washington Post-ABC News polls THE WASHINGTON POST


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webelieve in TRADITIONTRANSFORMED The events themselves appear


to have receded further and further in the public’s conscious- ness, even as the country again prepares to mark their anniver- sary. Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who has tracked atti- tudes on the attacks closely, said 9/11 “is becoming a distant his- torical marker,” akin to Veterans Day. The new Post-ABC News poll


highlights just how much 9/11 has receded. Just 14 percent of Americans now say they think about what happened on 9/11 every day, down from 23 percent four years ago and 40 percent the year after the attacks. Nor is terrorism as divisive an


issue as it once was. President Obama’s approval ratings for his handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are higher than his


marks for domestic issues, thanks in part to greater Repub- lican support in those areas than on the economy or the deficit. Under Obama, a significantly


smaller percentage of the popu- lation says it feels safer today than it did before Sept. 11, 2001: 48 percent, compared with 62 percent two years ago. The prin- cipal reason is a dramatic change among Republicans and a less


significant change among inde- pendents. Two years ago, when Bush was still in office, 82 per- cent of Republicans said they felt safer than before 9/11; now 49 percent say that. With the change from Bush to


Obama, Republicans and Demo- crats have significantly shifted their responses to the question of how much confidence they have in government to prevent anoth-


er terrorist attack. Republican confidence has dropped from 73 to 41 percent; Democratic confi- dence has risen from 35 percent to 53 percent.


balzd@washpost.com cohenj@washpost.com


Assistant polling analyst Kyle Dropp contributed to this report.


A9


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