Forty-three percent of American voters think the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror, up 1% from last week, but 41% also believe America is not safer than it was before the 9/11 attacks. The latter is down 1% from the week before.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey conducted Monday night finds that, unchanged from the previous week, 24% of voters give the winning edge to the terrorists, and 26% say neither side is winning.

Overall, the survey finds little change from last week in the perceptions Americans hold about the war on terror and the ongoing fighting in Iraq.

During the 2004 election cycle, the war on terror was consistently the number one issue for voters, and Rasmussen Reports surveyed on that topic weekly. Since then economic issues have come to the fore, with voters now identifying them as their number one concern. Polling on the war on terror has been monthly for the past two years.

Now, with John McCain running in large part on his national security credentials and Democrats criticizing his open-ended view of the war in Iraq, Rasmussen Reports will once again survey weekly on issues related to the war on terror.

In the new survey, 71% of Republican voters believe the U.S. and its allies are winning the war on terror, with 14% saying the terrorists are on top and 12% crediting neither. By contrast, while 23% of Democrats say the U.S. and its allies is winning, 35% believe the terrorists are ahead, and a near equal amount (34%) give neither side the edge. Among unaffiliated voters, 42% believe the U.S. is winning, 19% credit the terrorists and 31% say it's a stalemate.

An equal number - 33% -- believe the war in Iraq will get better or worse in the next six months, and 25% say it will remain about the same.

Fifty percent (50%) believe in the long-term the war will be viewed as a failure. Twenty-eight percent (28%) disagree, with 23% undecided. The week before, 52% rated the war a long-term failure, 31% said it would be seen as a success, and 18% were unsure.

The overall findings for President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq remain unchanged. Twenty-six percent (26%) say the president has done a good or excellent job, but over half (53%) rate his performance poor. The latter includes 16% of Republicans (down from 21% the week before) and 78% of Democrats, (down 1%)

Only 39% of voters think America is safer today than before September 11, 2001, down from 41% last week.

McCain continues to be by far the most trusted of the two presidential candidates on national security issues and the war in Iraq specifically.

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