This is depressing

Sure, polls are shaky, but even so this is an incredible statistic. More than 35% of the people who live in the United States believe that al Qaeda was sponsored by Iraq?

On the al-Qaeda link: 75% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq was providing substantial support to al-Qaeda, and 63% believe that clear evidence of this support has actually been found.

It gets worse (or maybe it's getting better?), a poll in September put the number at 42%. Good grief.

Also see the original report and story at PIPA, the Analysis section is worth thinking about.

The roots of the resistance to this information very likely lie in the traumatic experience of 9/11, and equally in the near pitch-perfect leadership that President Bush showed in its immediate wake. In response to an unprecedented attack on US soil, with the prospect of further such attacks, Bush responded with a grace and resolve that provided reassurance to an anxious public. In the war with the Taliban he showed restraint as well as effectiveness. Large numbers of Americans had a powerful bonding experience with the president &mdash a bond that they may be loath to relinquish.