Polling John Fund James Taranto

He opines on the latest poll that suggests those who have friends or loved ones serving in Iraq support the war more than those who don't:

...[T]he finding that those closer to the war are more likely to support it underscores one of the more audacious inversions of the "antiwar" movement--namely the complaint that supporters of the war are not actually fighting it themselves or "sending" their "children" to fight it.

There are two points here that would need to be addressed before I could begin to agree with Fund Taranto.

1) With a 49-47 split, this is hardly a resounding endorsement from those who have family members serving in Iraq. I would imagine that these numbers have fallen pretty steadily since the beginning of the war as well (or support in the beginning was horrible), which means almost as many families and friends are getting news from the front that disturbs them as much as those getting news that reassures.

Now, I have friends that are serving in this war. That certainly doesn't mean I'm fighting or sending my kids to fight in it as Fund Taranto suggests, though, does it? The AP would have to clean that question up even more before you can actually conclude as Fund Taranto does here.

2) I imagine, and this is pure hypothesis in my part, that some of those families believe in the war because they have to. If they don't support it, then the prospect of their friend, son, of daughter dying has little justification in their mind. I can only imagine how tough it is to go through life thinking a loved one died for no cause rather than convincing yourself they died for something worthwhile.

*UPDATE* Whoops. It's James Taranto that does the poorly named "Best of the Web," not John Fund. Corrections above.