According to this ABC/Washington Post poll flagged by Glenn Greenwald. The American people oppose torture in all circumstances by a 58-40% margin, 52-38% want the United States to "find another way to deal" with terrorists than holding them at Guantanamo, 53-42% would rather put them on trial here or at home than keep them in Guantanamo, and by a small (50-47%) margin Americans want Obama to investigate human rights abuses under the Bush administration. By a larger margin, (52-42%) Americans would have opposed Bush pardons for those "who carried out his administration's policy on the treatment of terrorism suspects."
All of which, as Greenwald points out, puts the lie to the idea that Americans, rather than a beltway coalition of Very Serious People, believe the United States should pursue a policy of outright disregard for human rights. Jim Geraghty seems to think that Republicans have an issue here where they can win some points, but I think he underestimates the degree to which the torture debate was skewed by President Bush arguing in favor of torture. The bully pulpit of the president will now be mobilized in the other direction, something which, taking into account the relative communication skills of the current and former officeholders, is sure to affect public opinion.
-- A. Serwer
