82 percent of participants in the survey said they are sympathetic towards the protesters (with 42 percent responding that they are very sympathetic), while 11 percent said they are unsympathetic.
69 percent of respondents said they were following the news about the political situation and demonstrations in Egypt very, or somewhat closely. Those who were closely following the news of the situation did not differ from others in their views of the situation’s impact on Egypt or the U.S.
The poll found that Democrats were more likely to be sympathetic to the protesters, and also more likely to call for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down.
77 percent of Democrats felt the political changes are good for the nation, and 71 percent of Democrats polled said they felt the political changes are good for the U.S.
Of participants in the survey, 59 percent who identified as Republicans said they felt the political developments are good for Egypt, 22 percent less than polled Democrats. 51 percent of Republicans said they think the political developments are good for the U.S.
Overall, regardless of partisan orientation, a majority of respondents were sympathetic to the protesters and view the changes to the Egyptian government positively.
The results of the poll came out the same day that a number of Democrats in the House of Representatives sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) requesting an emergency resolution in support of pro-democracy Egyptian protesters, according to Politico.
The poll results were based on phone interviews conducted by Gallup from Feb. 2 through Feb. 5, 2011, “during a time when protests and reactions in Egypt dominated the international news,” said Frank Newport, who wrote the summary of the report, in a statement.
The poll interviewed 1,015 adults living in the continental U.S. Those interviewed were selected using random-digit-dial sampling. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Michelle Williams can be reached at [email protected].
