Effectiveness of protesters questioned
But according to a study by political science graduate student Phil Gussin, the opinions of people who conditionally supported war changed toward favoring war when shown photographs of Bush and then of anti-war demonstrators.“If anti-war demonstrators are trying to gather support by having their pictures shown, they are having the opposite effect,” Gussin said.
Subjects who were shown pictures of the president had a seven percent higher approval rating for Bush compared to those who were shown other, non-political pictures, Gussin said. Subjects shown pictures of Bush and anti-war photographs had a 15 percent higher approval rating than the control group, Gussin said.
Not only does the timing of the anti-war demonstrations appear to be off to some, but others say protesters are not realistic about what they are accomplishing.
“There are always protesters who know what they’re talking about, but from what I’ve seen it’s just a bunch of slogans,” Riha said.
