Americans paying little attention to Syrian crisis

The United States is taking Russia to task for providing the Assad regime in Syria with an advanced air-defense system. We spoke to Frank Newport, editor in chief at Gallop, to get a read on the American public’s response to a potentially long civil war in Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been publicly critical of the move, though Americans at large are paying little attention to the Syrian crisis, said Newport. And there is very little sentiment on the part of the public that the United States should get involved militarily in Syria, although most think that the crisis there isn’t going to be solved quickly.

The Internal Revenue Service has also come under fire recently for unfair scrutiny of political nonprofit groups. The damage to the image of the agency does not seem to have affected perceptions about the federal government overall. 

Newport also reports that consumer confidence is now as high as it has been since 2008, and it’s continuing to get more positive every day. Gallup’s measure may soon be in positive territory for the first time since 2007, he said.

For the numbers, listen to the interview above.