Americans say don't close Gitmo

Byron York reports that, "New poll results are devastating for Obama's Gitmo plan."

Overall, 65 percent of those surveyed oppose shutting Gitmo, versus 32 percent who say it should be closed. According to the poll's internal numbers, large majorities of men oppose closing the prison, large majorities of women oppose it, large majorities of white people oppose it, large majorities of non-white people oppose it, people with graduate degrees oppose it, and people who didn't finish high school oppose it. Pretty much everybody.

If Obama had explained an alternative to Gitmo, for both present and future captives, the people would be less dismissive of his order to close the camp. As it is, they understand that the administration does not in fact have a plan. Well, so does Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and almost every senator of Obama's own party:

Recently, the Senate, including the Democratic leadership and nearly all of its members, refused to grant the president the $80 million he asked for to close the facility, voting 90 to 6 to strip the requested funds from a war-spending bill. In a stunning rebuke, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said "Democrats under no circumstances will move forward without a comprehensive, responsible plan from the president. We will never allow terrorists to be released into the United States."

That's the position of the American people, too.