Poll: No Support For Iraq War If It Preempts Primetime Shows

WASHINGTON (CT) - A new Campaign Treehouse poll indicates that support for military action against Iraq shrinks dramatically if respondents believe that news coverage of such action would preempt popular prime time programming. The poll, which surveyed 706 randomly selected Americans, found that only 3% of people would support war on Iraq "if it meant missing an episode of 'American Idol,'Â? while less than one-tenth of one percent would support any action that would interrupt a new episode of 'Friends.'" The results of the poll were steady regardless of if the U.S. attacked Iraq with support from the United Nations Security Council or if it led a "coalition of the willing," which currently includes Britain and Spain. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters that the strong anti-war sentiment shown amongst primetime viewers "is one more reason Saddam must be disarmed and removed from power. Iraq has sent Baath party screenwriters to infiltrate NBC headquarters and sabotage the 'Friends' storylines. Rachel's baby is a target here; the President won't compromise the security of prime-time programming, regardless of what some survey says."Â? However, Administration sources indicate that Karl Rove, President Bush's senior political advisor, has told aides that if Bush does launch a war on Baghdad, he will address the nation in a mid-morning timeslot. Antiwar activists were quick to use the survey to criticize Bush's policies. In a press conference yesterday, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) said that "the president's 'doctrine of preemption' is preempting, all right. It's preempting the fine work done by our television networks! If my guest spot on 'Drew Carey' gets preempted by this war I'll scream!" Among other results, the survey curiously found that 78% of regular Fox News Channel viewers would support war on Iraq even if their chemical weapons labs only contained tomato soup.