Americans fear disaster if Iran gets nuclear weapons — and support military force to stop it.
According to a new Fox News poll, voters feel:
– It would be “a disaster” if Iran obtains the capability to use nuclear weapons.
– The U.S. has not been aggressive enough in stopping Iran from getting nukes.
– U.S. military action is the right thing to do to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
– A deal that just delays Iran’s nuclear time-table is a bad idea.
– Barack Obama is a weak negotiator with foreign leaders.
– It was a good idea to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress.
Details of the poll:
A 57-percent majority feels the U.S. has not been aggressive enough in trying to get Iran to stop building a nuclear weapons program. Another 27 percent say the action has been about right, while just 7 percent say the U.S. has been too aggressive.
Some 55 percent think it would be “a disaster” if Iran were to obtain the capability to use nuclear weapons, while 40 percent sees it as “a problem that can be managed.” Those sentiments are unchanged from 2010.
There’s a huge gap between Democrats and Republicans on how worrisome an Iran with nukes would be. By a 10 percentage-point margin, Democrats are more likely to say it’s a problem that could be managed (51 percent) over a disaster (41 percent). Republicans, by a 42-point margin, say a nuclear Iran would be a disaster (70-28 percent).
Overall, two-thirds of voters (65 percent) favor the U.S. using military action, if necessary, to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Just 28 percent are opposed.
To varying degrees, majorities of Republicans (81 percent), Democrats (54 percent) and independents (53 percent) agree on using force to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
Voters overwhelmingly reject that deal: 84 percent — including 80 percent of Democrats — think it’s a bad idea to allow Iran to get nuclear weapons 10 years from now in return for agreeing it won’t obtain nukes before then.
While 34 percent of voters think Obama is a strong negotiator with foreign leaders, a 59-percent majority says he’s a weak one. That’s up from 54 percent who felt that way a year ago.
More than a quarter of Democrats (29 percent) join large majorities of independents (67 percent) and Republicans (83 percent) in saying Obama is a bad negotiator on the international stage.
The poll was conducted Sunday through Tuesday nights, so one night (about a third of the interviewing) was done after Netanyahu’s speech.
Currently 53 percent of voters disapprove of the job Obama is doing as president. A month ago it was 45-49 percent. A year ago it was 38-54 percent (March 2014).

 
By Dana Blanton