Support for U.S. Military Action in Libya Down to 39% With 37% Opposed

Support for the U.S. military mission in Libya and the president’s handling of the situation is declining.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% of Likely U.S. Voters now agree with the president’s decision to take military action in Libya, down from 45% two weeks ago just after the mission began.  Nearly as many (37%) now disagree with Obama’s decision, while 24% remain undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

At the same time, only 37% rate the president’s handling of the situation in Libya as good or excellent. That’s down six points from a week ago, just after the president’s nationally televised address to the nation explaining his reasons for helping Libyan rebels overthrow longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.  Twenty-eight percent (28%) now give the president poor marks, in line with the 30% who felt that way a week ago.

Belief that Libya is a vital national security interest of the United States today, while low before, also has slipped a bit. Just 24% now believe that to be true, compared to 27% a week ago. Fifty percent (50%) say Libya is not a vital U.S. national security interest, up from 42% two weeks ago.  Twenty-six percent (26%) are not sure.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 5-6, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.