Do 57 percent of Americans really want to invade North Korea?

This morning, Politico reports on a Rasmussen poll taken two days before North Korea’s botched rocket launch. The release leads with the alarming line: “Fifty-seven percent (57%) of U.S. voters nationwide favor a military response to eliminate North Korea’s missile launching capability.”

The poll shows that both genders support military intervention equally, and that two-thirds of Republicans and just over half of Democrats do. Only 15 percent oppose it. 

Still, it’s not convincing evidence that most Americans are clamoring to send in the troops. The question read: 

If North Korea launches a long-range missile, should the United States take military action to eliminate North Korea’s ability to launch missiles?

Thus far, North Korea hasn’t shown a lot of success with long-range missiles. The question also came immediately after one about concern over North Korea’s nuclear capacity. 

The most interesting finding of the poll, perhaps, shows a 14-point drop in people considering North Korea an enemy, and a massive skew along political lines over whether the Stalinist collectivist state is an enemy, ally, or something in between:

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Republicans consider North Korea an enemy of the United States. That view is shared by 50% of unaffiliateds and 28% of Democrats. Most Democrats (57%) place North Korea somewhere between ally and enemy.

Photo: Flickr user Borut Peterlin