Pride and Optimism Remain After 9/11

Sept. 10, 2002 -- Pride, purpose and patriotism mark the public mood a year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, though lingering fears — and some doubts about the U.S. response — signal the challenges that lie ahead.

An ABCNEWS poll finds six in 10 Americans say they're still frightened by the events of last Sept. 11, and three-quarters remain worried about the possibility of further attacks — a number that's barely abated in the last year. Only half express confidence the United States can prevent further terrorism, down from two-thirds a year ago.

Given the complexity of the problem — and the apparent elusiveness of Osama bin Laden — a bare one in 10 says the U.S. campaign against terrorism is going "very" well. For the first time, fewer than half now express confidence bin Laden will be killed or captured. Eight in 10 believe the hardest part of the war is yet to come. And just half think the United States is doing enough to win the support of its allies, or the world's Muslims.

Pride and Optimism Prevail

Yet for all the concerns, difficulties and doubts, resilience and fundamental optimism underscore public views. Americans give enormously positive ratings to the way the nation has responded to the attacks, reserving their highest marks — virtually unanimous ones — for the armed services and the people of New York City. Eight in 10 are optimistic about the country's future, and even more express optimism for their personal prospects.

People clearly are healing. The number who report being depressed recently about the threat of terrorism has plummeted from 71 percent in a poll last Sept. 17 to 12 percent now. Sleeplessness is down from 33 percent then to four percent now.

High-level fears of more attacks (those who express a "great deal" of concern) are down by 27 points since the night of last Sept. 11. Fear of flying because of the chance of terrorism declined sharply after the initial shock. And most of those who see a change in the nation, or in their own lives, say that change has been for the better.

Two changes stand out, one very public, the other intensely private. Seven in 10 adults call themselves "extremely" proud to be Americans — well up from pre-9/11 levels. And many are showing it publicly: A full year after the attacks galvanized national sentiment, 68 percent say they're still displaying the flag on a daily basis.

A Lesson Learned

On a far more personal level is this change: Given the nation's profound lesson in sudden and untimely loss, 83 percent now say they consider it "essential" to spend time with their families. That's up, sharply, from 60 percent in a pre-9/11 poll.

Part of this lesson in loss reflects the level of focus and contemplation the attacks have commanded. Virtually all Americans, 96 percent, remember specifically where they were and what they were doing when they first heard what had happened. Seventy-five percent say they still think about it "a lot," and four in 10 think about it just about every day. And more than eight in 10 still express anger at the perpetrators.

Like most other sentiments, perceptions of change have an overall positive tone. Nearly all Americans, 94 percent, say the country has changed as a result of the attacks, and most of them say it's a long-term and lasting change. What's telling is that 63 percent of them also say it's been a change for the better.

Far fewer, but still a majority (59 percent), say their own lives have changed in terms of the way they feel about things; again, 67 percent of them call it a change for the better. The least change is in personal behavior: Twenty-nine percent say 9/11 changed the way they live. And yet again, among this group, 69 percent called it a change for the better.

Bush Approval Rating Highest Run in History

Of course the events of Sept. 11 continue to reverberate in the political sphere as well. George W. Bush's job approval rating soared after the attacks to the highest ever recorded in opinion polls, peaking at 92 percent Oct. 9. Fueled by approval of his response to terrorism, it has stayed remarkably high — 71 percent in this poll. (That is, for comparison, 14 points higher than Ronald Reagan's career average.)

Indeed Bush's approval ratings in 16 ABCNEWS and ABCNEWS/Washington Post polls the last year have averaged 81 percent—the longest, highest run in presidential approval since modern polling began in the late 1930s. (He gets 74 percent approval specifically on handling the war on terrorism — its lowest since the campaign began, given some of the concerns cited above, but still very broad.)

One result shows how much Bush's popularity rests on the campaign against terrorism: Among the 70 percent who think the war is going very or fairly well, 82 percent approve of his overall performance in office. Among those who think the war is not going well, Bush's approval drops to 44 percent.

Ratings of the way a variety of institutions have responded to the events of 9/11 are almost all positive ("excellent" or "good"), peaking at 94 percent for the armed services (with an extraordinary 55 percent choosing the top rating, "excellent") and 93 percent for the people of New York City (even more, 62 percent, "excellent").

Eighty-four percent, moreover, give positive ratings to the way the country in general has responded to the attacks. Despite some controversy, ratings are 76 percent positive for the Red Cross, the United Way and other charities. And 68 percent give good ratings to the news media's response. (The media's positive ratings are lower among liberals, at 56 percent, than among conservatives, at 71 percent.)

There's a range of assessments of government agencies. About two-thirds give positive ratings to the response of the Justice Department and Attorney General John Ashcroft; it's lower, in the mid-50s, for the CIA and FBI; and lowest by far for the unpopular Immigration and Naturalization Service, at only 36 percent positive.

International Cooperation Lacking

Specifically in terms of the war, seven in 10 or more give positive ratings to the job the United States has done preventing more attacks, improving intelligence-gathering and coordination, and reorganizing government agencies to respond to the threat. Sixty-three percent say it's done an excellent or good job breaking up the al Qaeda network.

But fewer — just 48 percent — say the United States has done a good job "winning the cooperation of other countries in fighting terrorism." And the same number, 48 percent, say the United States is doing enough to win the support of Muslims around the world — down steeply from 69 percent early last October.

International cooperation is a two-way street, and most Americans see the assistance of other countries as lacking, with one striking exception: Seventy-six percent say Great Britain has done enough to support the U.S. campaign against terrorism. That plummets elsewhere, from 39 percent for Germany to 12 percent for Saudi Arabia.

War Effort Disappointment

One clear disappointment of the war effort has been the apparent failure to capture or kill Osama bin Laden; the number of Americans who say they're confident this can be done has fallen from a peak of 81 percent last Sept. 27 to just 47 percent now.

At the same time, the public has adjusted its demand for bin Laden's head. Last December 64 percent said the United States had to capture or kill him for the war to be a success; that fell sharply in January and remains there, at 44 percent, now. Polling last winter showed a refocus on destroying his network, rather than on the individual man.

On the home front, concern about the possibility of more major attacks has held high and steady since October — it's now 74 percent — after peaking at 87 percent the night of Sept. 11. But there's been a substantial drop in the degree of concern: Last Sept. 11, 49 percent were greatly concerned about more attacks; today it's 22 percent.

Fewer overall — but still 42 percent — express concern that there might be another attack specifically on this Sept. 11. And fewer still, 32 percent, are concerned that they personally might be a terrorism victim; just seven percent are greatly concerned.

Twelve months without another attack surely informs the decline in high-level anxiety about another attack. But experience also has shown the complexity of combating terrorism. Last Sept. 11, 66 percent expressed confidence the United States could prevent further terrorism, including 35 percent who had a "great deal" of confidence. Now overall confidence is down to 50 percent (though it was lower, 44 percent, in June); and just 12 percent have a great deal of confidence in U.S. counter-terrorism efforts.

More broadly, 85 percent of Americans say they felt confident, last Sept. 11, that the United States would handle the problem; that's slipped to 75 percent now. It's still a big majority, but the number "very" confident has dropped from 60 percent to 43 percent.

In terms of personal efforts, there's been a substantial 14-point rise in recent months, to 38 percent, in the number of Americans who say they're personally on the lookout for people who look or act like they might be terrorists. However most, 61 percent, are still leaving this to the law-enforcement authorities.

Views on Government’s Counter-Terrorism Efforts

Few Americans, 15 percent, think the Bush administration has been overstating the level of threat the country faces — one reason the public gives such priority to counter-terrorism efforts. Nearly eight in 10 say it's more important at this time for the FBI to investigate terrorism, even if that intrudes on personal privacy, than for it to avoid intruding on privacy, if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats.

Moreover, most are convinced the government has not run afoul of constitutional rights. Sixty-six percent think the activities of the government these days do not pose a threat to their rights — actually up from what is was in December, and sharply up from its level in the disgruntled days of 1995. (Twenty percent do see a serious threat; 13 percent, a threat, but not a serious one.)

More, 74 percent, say that in its campaign against terrorism the government is doing enough to protect the rights of American citizens; and more than six in 10 also say it's adequately protecting the rights of Arab-Americans and American Muslims, non-citizens from Arab and Muslim countries living here, and terrorism suspects.

Fears Have Eased Slightly

In a related result, 39 percent of Americans say last year's attacks made them personally more suspicious of people who seem to be of Arab descent. This number has wavered between 31 and 43 percent since the attacks.

Fear of an in-flight attack has subsided. Last Sept. 13, 59 percent said they were worried about flying because of the risk of terrorism; that eased to 42 percent in October and 33 percent in February; it remains about there now.

Thirty-seven percent say they have flown since Sept. 11, and 70 percent of them say airport security is better now than it was before the attacks. There's room for more improvement, though, since just a third of them say security is "much" better.

As far as the anniversary, 10 percent of Americans plan a change in their normal routine this Wednesday; many more, 37 percent, have specific plans to commemorate the attacks. Top mentions include attending a prayer or church service; a moment of personal prayer or silence; or gathering with family or friends.

Finally there are some significant differences among groups in their response to the attacks. Most prominent is the difference between men and women; women are 30 points more apt to say they were frightened by the attacks, and also more apt to remain scared, and to say the attacks changed the way they feel about things. Younger adults, similarly, are more apt to report these sentiments.

Methodology

This ABCNEWS poll was conducted by telephone Sept. 5-8, 2002, among a random national sample of 1,011 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Fieldwork by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, PA.

Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our Poll Vault.