Most Oklahomans expect another large-scale attack, poll finds

<br>TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Most Oklahomans expect another large-scale terrorist attack on the United States and a big majority in the state approve of President Bush's response to last year's attacks,

Sunday, September 8th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Most Oklahomans expect another large-scale terrorist attack on the United States and a big majority in the state approve of President Bush's response to last year's attacks, according to a Tulsa World poll.

The survey also found that most respondents do not believe Americans will ever feel as safe as they did before the Sept. 11 strikes in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

In the World poll, 56 percent of participants said they expect another attack on the same magnitude, 38 percent said they did not and 6 percent did not answer.

The majority who expect another attack was evenly spread over urban and rural areas. Women were more inclined than men to believe in future terrorism.

Bush's proclaimed war on terrorism got an 82 percent approval rate. Poll consultant Al Soltow said that is about 10 percent more than the president got in a national poll conducted by CBS last month. The Oklahoma poll showed 13 percent disapproved of the president's policies and 5 percent did not comment.

In Oklahoma's survey, 85 percent of men and 80 percent of women approved of Bush's response. The president had his lowest approval among respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 years. Soltow said that could be because members of that age group are the most likely to be fighting in a war.

The World poll found 72 percent in the state do not believe the nation will ever feel as secure as it did before Sept. 11. Residents of Oklahoma City were slightly more optimistic about a return to normal than were Tulsans. Soltow said the difference could be Oklahoma City's experience of recovery after the 1995 downtown bombing that killed 168.

Men, at 32 percent, were more inclined than women, at 20 percent, to believe that Americans would return to the security levels felt prior to the terrorist attacks, Soltow said.

The survey of 750 persons around Oklahoma was taken Aug. 5-13 by Consumer Logic and sponsored by the Tulsa World. It has a margin of error rate of plus or minus 3.5 percent.