The Obama’s Administration’s whitewashing of language might have played well with the social justice warrior brigade, but voters aren’t buying it.
A survey released by Rasmussen found 60% of likely voters believe America is at war with Radical Islam.
Rasmussen reported:
President Obama, Hillary Clinton and other senior Democrats refuse to say America is at war with “radical Islamic terrorism” for fear of insulting all Muslims, but voters beg to disagree.A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 60% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the United States is at war with radical Islamic terrorism. Just 24% share the president’s position and disagree. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.
Pouring salt in the social justice wound, a whopping 56% of self-identifying Democrats also believe radical Islamist terrorists are our foe compared to 70% of those identifying as Republican.
And the data just gets more interesting:
A staggering 92% of all voters now regard radical Islamic terrorism as a serious threat to the United States. This includes 73% who say it is a Very Serious one, up 23 points from 50% in October of last year.Voters are also more reluctant now to agree with Obama that the radical Islamic State group (ISIS) which masterminded the massacres in Paris last weekend is not a reflection of Islam itself. A plurality (46%) still thinks the president is right when he says ISIS does not represent true Islamic beliefs. But that’s down noticeably from 58% who felt that way in February after the president gave a speech equating the atrocities committed by ISIS with past sins of Christianity. Thirty-five percent (35%) now believe ISIS does represent Islamic beliefs. One-in-five voters (19%) are not sure.
Democrats in particular refuse to utter, “radical Islam,” for fear of alienating voters or appearing less than sensitive. Is it true that not all Muslims are radical terrorists? Yes. But it’s also true that all radical Muslims are well… Muslim.
In the context of the Democratic presidential debate immediately following the Paris attacks, The Federalist’s Ben Domenech explored the Democratic aversion to accurately labelling radical Islam:
Early on in the debate, moderator John Dickerson put a direct question to Clinton on the subject of radical Islam. Quoting Sen. Marco Rubio’s opinion that the Paris attack showed clearly that “we are at war with radical Islam,” he asked whether Clinton agreed with that characterization.“I don’t think we’re at war with Islam,” she responded. “I don’t think we are at war with all Muslims. I think we’re at war with jihadists who have…”At which point Dickerson politely interrupted to point out that Rubio “didn’t say all Muslims. He just said radical Islam.”Clinton continued, stumbling a bit, that she did not want to paint “with t0o broad a brush” and cited George W. Bush’s assertion that we are at war with “violent extremism” and “people who use their religion for purposes of power and oppression.” Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Gov. Martin O’Malley joined Clinton in rejecting the term “radical Islam,” citing much the same rationale.The irony of those unwilling to call the threat of radical Islam by its name is that in endeavoring to be intelligent and understanding, in trying to avoid painting with “too broad a brush,” they are in reality betraying their ignorance or inability to grapple with the true nature of today’s foe.Our leaders do us no service when they fail to recognize that the threat the so-called Islamic State and its allied terrorists represent is a civilizational not a geopolitical conflict, and can only be understood through that lens. The radicals who perpetrated the Charlie Hebdo attack were not motivated by Western Imperialism, but by members of a free society violating Islamic law.
Domenech concluded:
The unwillingness of any candidate for the nomination of the incumbent ruling party in America to grasp this fact is about more than a nod to political correctness: It betrays a very real lack of understanding and an inability to learn any lessons from the past decade and a half.It also demonstrates an inability to learn from the Islamic world itself. American policymaking in the Islamic world must begin with a foundation of respect for Muslims, especially when they tell us about their faith.
Vox also has a decent piece which chronicles President Obama’s hesitancy to use the term and the partisan debate it precipitated.
Regardless of the nuances of either sides arguments, voters increasingly have no problem identifying America’s greatest threat as radical Islam.
Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye
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