Of course, this poll will promptly be overturned by another poll conducted by MSNBC (or comparable), finding that 120% of Americans believe Snowden deserves the chair. And the farce will go on.The poll also showed that by 45 percent to 40 percent, respondents said the government goes too far in restricting civil liberties as part of the war on terrorism. That was a reversal from January 2010, when in a similar survey 63 percent said anti-terrorism activities didnt go far enough to protect the U.S. from attacks, compared with 25 percent who disagreed. The massive swing in public opinion about civil liberties and governmental anti-terrorism efforts, and the public view that Edward Snowden is more whistle-blower than traitor, are the public reaction and apparent shock at the extent to which the government has gone in trying to prevent future terrorist incidents, said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiacs polling institute. The verdict that Snowden is not a traitor goes against almost the unified view of the nations political establishment, Brown said. Facing espionage and other charges and with his passport revoked, Snowden has been holed up at Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport since arriving there on June 23 from Hong Kong, which refused a U.S. extradition request. President Barack Obamas administration has been pressuring other countries not to grant Snowden asylum, and U.S. officials who have called him a traitor include House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. The poll showed both Democrats and Republicans about evenly divided on whether government counter-terrorism measures have become excessive. Independent voters view the methods as having gone too far by 49 percent to 36 percent. The fact that there is little difference now along party lines about the overall anti-terrorism effort and civil liberties and about Snowden is in itself unusual in a country sharply divided along political lines about almost everything, Brown said. A gender gap emerges, though, on the governments anti-terrorism programs. The poll showed that men, by 54 percent to 34 percent, see the government as having gone too far in its efforts while women, by 47 percent to 36 percent, said the measures havent gone far enough. Despite this divergence, figures for the genders from Quinnipiacs January 2010 poll exemplify the overall change in attitude on the issue. Male respondents, by 61 percent to 28 percent, said in the earlier survey that the government hadnt gone far enough to protect the country. Among women, 64 percent said the same. Likewise, among Republicans the percentage who said government has gone overboard in restricting civil liberties in the fight against terrorism grew to 41 percent in the new poll, compared with 17 percent three years ago.
Latest Snowden Poll Results: 55% Say Whistleblower; 34% Say Traitor
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