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| Government |
| SecDef Approval Rating 26 Percent Among National Security Workers, Troops |
| 2014-11-09 |
| Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has just a 26 percent approval rating among individuals currently serving within the national security community, according to findings from a new survey commissioned by Defense One. The findings come as scrutiny on the Obama administration's handling of the war in Iraq and Syria grows. At the same time, a variety of media reports hint that President Barack Obama, himself trailing in the polls after a poor showing for the Democrats in Tuesday's election, is considering a shake-up of his national security staff. That could include Hagel. The "Defense One National Security Survey" released Friday found few individuals inside the national security government think highly of the Obama administration's national security strategy. The survey found that only 4 percent of respondents "strongly agree" and 16 percent "agree" that the White House has "a clear national security strategy." Conversely, 73 percent of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with that statement. The survey also found that 50 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed the U.S. relies too heavily on its military to achieve its foreign policy goals, but 77 percent of respondents think the world is "more dangerous" than it was in 2008, when Obama was elected. But as the chief of the massive Defense Department, it is Hagel's poor showing among many of his own employees that is most striking. Hagel has a 35 percent disapproval rating among the respondents, most of which are federal workers and troops who serve under his leadership. Perhaps more concerning for a Defense Secretary grappling with myriad world crises but whose public profile has been limited, 39 percent of those respondents said they had "no opinion" of whether Hagel was doing a good job or not. Hagel has never enjoyed high favorability ratings. In April, Hagel had an approval rating of only 36 percent, versus a 45 percent disapproval rating according to a poll conducted by Defense News. That poll showed that Hagel received higher marks from Democrats – about 82 percent – but among Republicans, his disapproval rating was 62 percent. The military gave Hagel a 44 percent approval rating, while 36 percent said they disapprove, according to that poll. Pentagon civilians were more split at 38 percent. Under fire for a poor or incomplete war strategy, Obama may be thinking about making some changes. As recently as Friday, influential Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote that as Obama considers his options, Hagel could find himself out of a job before the end of Obama's second term. Ignatius hinted that Michele Flournoy, once the Pentagon's top policy chief and now a perennial short-lister for the secretary's job, could replace Hagel. The survey by Government Business Council and Defense One, divisions of Government Executive Media Group, received responses from 427 individuals currently serving within the national security community, including 77 percent Defense Department civilians and 7 percent uniformed military personnel. Sixteen percent reported themselves as "non-DoD civilian." The survey has a margin of error of 4.74 percent. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #6 Isn't 26% approximately the number of "True Believers" in the Democratic party mythos? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-11-09 13:10 |
| #5 Poor man. It's tough being The Third Smartest Man in the Room. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2014-11-09 11:42 |
| #4 and Susan Rice's approval ratings? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2014-11-09 09:39 |
| #3 Did they ask about a rating of their |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-11-09 08:54 |
| #2 Flournoy was brought into the Puzzle Palace along with a couple of the administration's other "quiet political reliables" as "policy people", but primarily to put a leash on the place. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-11-09 08:42 |
| #1 Michele Flournoy ... could replace Hagel. Flournoy attended Beverly Hills High School in Los Angeles, California, and has a bachelor of arts degree in social studies from Harvard University. She received an M.Litt. in international relations in 1983 from Oxford University, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar at Balliol College. ... From 1989 until 1993 she was at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where she was a Research Fellow in its International Security Program. [without even a PhD] |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-11-09 04:32 |