The lead headline on the blog of evangelical Christian and best-selling author Joel Rosenberg read: "NEW POLL FINDS NEARLY EIGHT-IN-TEN AMERICANS DON'T BELIEVE OBAMA POLICIES WILL STOP IRAN FROM GETTING NUKES: Poll provides fascinating insight into voters' views on Israel and epicenter issues." The Jerusalem Post headlined its story "Poll shows Israel is an important issue to US voters." Politico's take was headlined "Poll: Americans pro-Israel, scared of Iran, skeptical of outreach." And over at The Weekly Standard, the headline read: "The Real Israel Lobby: It's the American People."

(McLaughlin & Associates political clients are almost all associated with the GOP, including the Republican National Committee; National Republican Senatorial Committee; National Republican Congressional Committee; Republican Governors Association; the Alabama Kentucky, California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Montana, and a number of other state Republican Party outfits; the Conservative Parties of Canada and the United Kingdom; and the  Likud Party of Israel.)

According to the Republican poll taker, when asked whether they would vote to "re-elect" Obama, 35.7% said they would, while 55.6% "would consider voting for someone else."  Obama's favorables (very or somewhat) was at 50.1% while his unfavorables was at 46.1%.

The 1,000 people polled were asked about Obama's handling of: foreign policy (48.2% approve, 47.6% disapprove); defense and security (50.8% approve, 44.9% disapprove); relations with Israel (approve 43.2%, disapprove 44.3%).

The poll claims that respondents were also asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement "Barack Obama has been less friendly to Israel than previous presidents" - 51.6% agreed, 35.4% disagreed); whether his outreach to the Muslim world "increased or decreased the security of the United States" - 33% increased, 45.6% decreased; whether they agreed or disagreed with Obama's approach of "publicly" criticizing and pressuring Israel while not doing the same to the Palestinians - 27.0% agreed, 54.4% disagreed.        

The Emergency Committe for Israel

The Emergency Committee for Israel was founded this past summer as a vehicle for uniting the neo-conservative wing of the conservative movement with Evangelical Christians; at least for this election cycle.

The group has "taken out a number of aggressive television ads against Democratic candidates it perceives as weak on Israel," the Jerusalem Post reported. "Among those targeted have been Pennsylvania Democratic senatorial candidate Joe Sestak (backed by J Street -- a liberal pro-Israel organization -- and incumbent congressmen Glenn Nye from Virginia and Jim Himes from Connecticut."

Washington Jewish Week's Adam Credo reported that "One of ECI's ads, for instance, alleges that 'Sestak raised money for an anti-Israel organization' by giving a speech to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). It goes on to blast him for signing a J Street-supported missive that asked President Barack Obama to urge Israel to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip - a policy that's since been adopted in part by the Israeli government. The Holt ad alleges that the lawmaker 'has a 100 percent rating from an Islamic organization the FBI later called a front group for Hamas.' In reality, Holt's '100 percent rating' was generated by his support for a single CAIR-backed bill, a 2005 immigration measure called the REAL ID Act."

In response to the Emergency Committee's attack on J Street, the liberal pro-Israel group set up a website called "They Don't Speak For Us." The site contains short profiles of both Kristol and Bauer and it outlines its position on Israel.

Regarding the poll, Politico's Ben Smith pointed out that it used "questions that some might find misleading. The poll "finds [that] large majorities don't believe that the U.S. can stop Iran's nuclear program with sanctions, and surprising numbers are open to military action: 60% said they'd support a military strike if sanctions don't work."

And support for a military option against Iran is undoubtedly one of the major reasons why Joel Rosenberg is composing such ecstatic headlines.