Recent polling shows strong support for the U.S. strike in Venezuela among Republican voters. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, 65 percent of Republicans supported the action, which resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed a sharp split along party lines, with 11 percent of Democrats and 23 percent of Independents approving of the strike. The strike met with a 65 percent disapproval rating among Democrats but only 6 percent among Republicans. Overall opinion on the strike was evenly divided among the group polled, with approximately one-third of respondents approving, one-third disapproving, and one-third expressing no opinion.
Despite approval of the initial military action, respondents expressed concerns about the next steps in U.S. military involvement in Venezuela. Overall, 72 percent of respondents said they were concerned that the U.S. would get too involved in Venezuela. This number also reflected a partisan divide, with 90 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Republicans responding affirmatively.
Polling from the Daily Mail showed even stronger support from Republicans and from voters overall for the capture of Maduro. According to the poll released on Tuesday, the military action received support from 43 percent of voters, while 36 percent expressed opposition. When broken down among party lines, the strike was met with 78 percent approval and only 8 percent disapproval among Republicans. The Democratic voters questioned responded with 17 percent approval and 57 percent disapproval.
Among the key group of Independent voters, opinion was narrowly split with 39% supporting the action and 38% opposing it. In addition, a strong majority of respondents viewed the mission as a success: 54 percent said it went well, compared to 15 percent who saw it as a failure.
