Tony Snow’s delusions of popularity … [VIDEO]

Posted by Joshua Holland at 10:50 AM on December 13, 2006.

Tony’s world:

Q: As the President is sort of making his calculations, is he factoring in sort of what the American people have a stomach for?

MR. SNOW: You know, it's interesting, if you take a look at poll data -- and there's a lot of discussion about that -- what's interesting is that a majority of the American public not only thinks that we're capable of winning, but we should.

Real world:

Americans believe the war in Iraq is going badly and getting worse…

Opposition to the war is now taking on historic proportions, with 62 percent saying it was "a mistake" to send U.S. troops to Iraq — slightly more than told a Gallup Poll in 1973 that it was a mistake to send U.S. forces to Vietnam.

Only 15 percent of Americans — the lowest number ever — say the U.S. is currently winning the war. And for the first time, a majority (53 percent) believes it's not likely that the U.S. will ultimately succeed.

… 85 percent now characterize the situation there as a civil war.

Tony Snow will have a legacy. The White House's various press secretaries have always spun and dodged, but he’s the first to look the American people in the eye and just lie outright -- he’s setting a precedent.

Tagged as: iraq, tony snow

Joshua Holland is a staff writer at Alternet and a regular contributor to The Gadflyer.