As the Egyptian uprising continues to play out, there is no consensus among Americans about how the eventual outcome will impact the U.S. Yet based on public opinion polls, one thing is clear: Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to see the protests as bad news for America.
So much remains unknown about what will unfold in Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak has pledged not to seek reelection, though he has resisted calls for his immediate resignation. Meanwhile, thousands of protesters continue to take to the streets demanding that he do just that. All the uncertainty about what sort of government will emerge from the chaos — and whether a new leader will be an ally or enemy — has Americans largely clueless about whether the protests will have a positive or negative impact on the U.S.
In a Pew poll released yesterday, 15% of respondents thought the Egyptian protests would benefit the U.S, while 28% thought they would do more harm. Yet more people, 36%, said the protests would have little impact on the U.S., and another 22% had no opinion at all. A Rasmussen poll found the number of people with no opinion even higher, with a full third of respondents stuck on the fence, and the rest split fairly evenly between viewing the situation as good (21%) bad (26%) or insignificant (19%).
In short, Americans don’t know what to think.
However, when broken down by party, it becomes clear that Republicans are much more concerned than either Democrats or Independents that the protests will end up harming America.
In the Pew poll, just 8% of Republicans thought the riots could benefit the U.S., while 37% thought they would do more harm. For Democrats, that split was even, with 21% falling to each side. Independents fell almost perfectly in the middle of between Democrats and Republicans, with 14% thinking the outcome would benefit America, and 28% believing it would be harmful.
The Rasmussen poll produced similar results, with 13% of Republicans viewing Egypt through rose colored glasses and, as in the Pew poll, 37% seeing it through something more like an ominous riot gear visor. Meanwhile, Democrats were mainly optimistic about America’s prospects by a 32% to 14% margin.
It’s likely that Republicans, typically more hawkish on national security measures, are concerned that whoever takes over in Egypt could side with America’s foes in the region, like Iran. Former UN ambassador John Bolton, for instance, has often suggested that Mubarak’s ouster would necessitate a quick military strike against Iran, just to be safe. There’s also been plenty of fearful speculation tossed around about the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization some right-wingers believe is bent on global Islamic domination.
Until a clear resolution emerges, Americans will probably remain split on what to think about the situation in Egypt. Yet as the situation continues to develop, its evident that Republicans are far more skeptical that the ultimate outcome will be beneficial to American interests.
