Can You Locate Iran? Few Voters Can.

News of Soleimani’s death -- which 49 percent of voters reported hearing “a lot” about --  brought new attention to U.S. policy in the Middle East, with high-profile Democrats questioning whether there was a strategy behind the attack at Baghdad International Airport ordered by President Donald Trump. 

Voters were more likely to support (47 percent) the airstrike that killed Soleimani than oppose it (40 percent). Attitudes on Trump’s call fell neatly along partisan lines: 70 percent of Democrats disapproved of the strike while 85 percent of Republicans approved of it, including 61 percent of Republicans who strongly approved.

Notably, there were no statistical differences in support for the strike -- or on a host of broader questions about its potential impacts -- between those who could identify Iran on a map and those who could not. The survey of 1,995 registered voters has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

While a lion’s share of voters backed the operation, public opinion on its possible effects ebbed more negative: 69 percent said they thought the strike on Soleimani made war with Iran more likely, and half said they thought it made the United States less safe.

So far, the attack has not garnered a so-called “rally 'round the flag” effect, which can temporarily buoy perceptions of a president’s job performance, with Trump’s approval rating unchanged throughout early January 2020, per Morning Consult Political Intelligence data.

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