Fight Song

Some people are trying to make something of this Gallup poll which shows only 47% approve of American military action in Libya.  This is the lowest initial approval of any such action in the past 30 years.

I wouldn't read too much into the poll.  Note, if nothing else, the move is popular--10% more approve than disapprove, a bigger positive spread than attacks on Haiti and Kosovo.  More important, what counts is outcome, not first impressions. And Obama has tried to structure this action with as much upside and as little downside as possible.

First (to be cold-blooded), doing nothing while Gaddafi was slaughtering his own people and the world was demanding action made Obama look weak, so it's not like that option was so appetizing. Second, this is only air strikes, not ground troops, so it's unlikely we'll get bogged down.  It's also designed to be short term.  In fact, we can stop any time and say that's all we meant to do.  Finally, even though we're working (not just through air strikes but behind the scenes) to remove Gaddafi, it's not been made the official goal of this mission, so even if Gaddafi doesn't leave it won't necessarily be considered a "loss."

There are certain other arguments against the action (we seem to be working as a junior partner with the UN, and Obama didn't get congressional approval--Joe Biden considered the latter impeachable when Bush was President), but I don't think voters care that much about technical issues, they want to know if it worked or not.

The only thing in this poll that might have Obama a bit worried is who approves. Interestingly, both Dems and Repubs give it a solid thumbs up, presumably because the latter tend to be hawkish and the former tend to support the President.  The only group that doesn't like it are the independents, and they're the ones Obama needs to be reelected.  But even if this action doesn't work out well, it's doubtful, with all that's going on, that this will be much on people's minds next November.