Poll: Only 30 Percent of People Think Snowden’s Leaks Will Hurt

In the Senate today, the hard-line critics of Edward Snowden tried to emphasize just how scary his leaks were. Sen. Lindsey Graham (whom I quote a bit more in a story coming tonight) suggested that Snowden had downright hobbled security, if not as directly as Bradley Manning had. “Deterrence works,” he said, imagining Manning’s final punishment. “If somebody finally goes to jail for destroying our national security and weakening our defenses, maybe the next guy will think twice.” Tonight’s CBS poll suggests that this theory isn’t getting terribly far.
It’s Democrats, the people most likely to support the program (as long as it’s identified with Barack Obama), who are most likely to think the bill will do a little damage. Only 31 percent of them think that.