The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has been on everyone’s mind since Moscow decided to invade its neighbor in an effort to topple its government. The hostilities, which began about 14 days ago, have played out on America’s televisions, tablets, smartphones, computers, and other screens, giving us an up-close view of what is happening in the region. As is typical, false reports and misinformation has proliferated, leaving Americans in a situation in which we don’t always know who to trust.
Attitudes toward the conflict vary, but according to a new Wall Street Journal poll, Americans of all political persuasions view the conflict as a critical issue. The survey, which also analyzed attitudes about America’s overall political landscape, found that the Ukraine/Russia conflict was the number two issue on people’s minds, second only to inflation and the economy. Even further, about 25 percent indicated it was the most important issue.
Interestingly enough, the war is the only issue on which Americans view President Joe Biden’s performance favorably. The Wall Street Journal reported:
Some 50% of voters said they approved of how the president has dealt with Russia, compared with 44% who disapproved. Asked a separate question on their view of how Mr. Biden has handled the crisis in Ukraine, 47% of voters said they approved and 46% disapproved.
A wide majority of voters, 89%, said they were closely following events in Ukraine. Among those who said they were paying the most attention to the conflict, approval of Mr. Biden’s handling of the situation improved, 54% to 43%.
About 79 percent of voters said they supported Biden’s idea to ban imports of oil coming from Russia. This includes three-fourths of Republicans, who “said they backed the move even if energy prices increased as a result,” according to the report.
Another noteworthy metric was related to the extent to which the United States should involve itself in the affair. From WSJ:
A partisan divide emerged on questions about the U.S. involvement in Ukraine. Overall, 35% of voters said the U.S. was doing the right amount and 46% wanted the nation to do more. But among Democrats, 54% said the U.S. was doing the right amount while 61% of Republicans said the country wasn’t doing enough.
But what is also worth mentioning is American attitudes toward Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Only four percent of respondents indicated they took a favorable view of Putin, while 90 percent weren’t so keen on the Russian leader. These results were similar, even along party lines.
On the other hand, about 65 percent of voters expressed favorable views towards Zelensky while only 8 percent viewed him unfavorably.
When it comes to American involvement in the region, 55 percent supported the idea of sending more military aid to Ukraine. About the same percentage said they favored imposing more economic sanctions on Russia. “Those majorities held up among Democratic and Republican voters,” according to the WSJ.
Predictably, support for sending U.S. troops to aid in the conflict was quite low. Only 25 percent of participants said they would support deploying troops in European countries other than Ukraine. Only a paltry 10 percent believed America should send troops to Ukraine.
This poll had a number of unexpected results, but the notion that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia would rank as the second most important might be shocking to many. Perhaps it is because of the perceived impact on American’s current energy woes.
Gas prices had already been climbing, but it experienced a significant jump over the past week, and even if Americans are willing to suck it up to avoid supporting Russia, it can’t be denied that it is going to have a detrimental impact on almost all industries. This will contribute further to the inflation problem that has already become more than a hassle to everyday Americans. Moreover, the fact that Biden and his ilk do not wish to have the U.S. produce our own oil to become energy independent is likely to make the problem much worse.
Of course, there is the possibility that even if the war continues, it will begin to become less important to the public as time goes on. But either way, if President Biden doesn’t take appropriate action soon and Americans suffer more because of his approach to this matter, it will have an even worse effect on his already-dismal approval ratings.
