[81alum]

American support already waning:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/202...aine-poll/

Americans' support for Ukraine flagging, poll says. Nearly half of Americans (47%) now say Washington should urge Kyiv to negotiate a peace deal as soon as possible, up from 38% in July, a new poll shows. And 48% of Americans believe Washington should support Ukraine “as long as it takes,” down from 58% in July, according to the survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-war-cross...32010.html

I wonder how much of this depends on the phrasing of the question. Most people obviously see peace as preferable to war. I obviously agree. But saying you hope that Kiev will "negotiate a peace deal" doesn't mean you want Ukraine to surrender, which is basically what negotiations would entail at this point given the current Russian stance. 

In terms of support, it just seems like such a no-brainer for the US, even without diving into the obvious moral side of the war. Not only is Ukraine decimating the military and economy of one of 2 chief rivals, but this war gives a massive boost to our defense industry. I would be shocked if our donations to Ukraine (much of which were old stock that needed to be retired) were not more then made up for increased export of military hardware.

You are exactly right to question the meaning of these results.  In fact, it was a similar poll question during the Vietnam War that is now a famous example of ambiguous questions that lead to misleading results.  The question was "Are you in favor of ending the war in Vietnam" and an overwhelming majority said "yes."  Given that the question was asked at the height of the peace movement, it was thought that Americans were coming around to the demands to withdraw from the war.  

But follow up surveys showed that most of those who said "yes" turned out to be people in favor of ending the war by winning it, even if that meant escalation or even nuking Hanoi.  There were at least as many hawks as doves, and they both could say they were in favor of ending the war.  The survey question wound up telling us almost nothing about American attitudes about alternative policies on the war.

[81alum]

American support already waning:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/202...aine-poll/

Americans' support for Ukraine flagging, poll says. Nearly half of Americans (47%) now say Washington should urge Kyiv to negotiate a peace deal as soon as possible, up from 38% in July, a new poll shows. And 48% of Americans believe Washington should support Ukraine “as long as it takes,” down from 58% in July, according to the survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-war-cross...32010.html

I wonder how much of this depends on the phrasing of the question. Most people obviously see peace as preferable to war. I obviously agree. But saying you hope that Kiev will "negotiate a peace deal" doesn't mean you want Ukraine to surrender, which is basically what negotiations would entail at this point given the current Russian stance. 

In terms of support, it just seems like such a no-brainer for the US, even without diving into the obvious moral side of the war. Not only is Ukraine decimating the military and economy of one of 2 chief rivals, but this war gives a massive boost to our defense industry. I would be shocked if our donations to Ukraine (much of which were old stock that needed to be retired) were not more then made up for increased export of military hardware.

You are exactly right to question the meaning of these results.  In fact, it was a similar poll question during the Vietnam War that is now a famous example of ambiguous questions that lead to misleading results.  The question was "Are you in favor of ending the war in Vietnam" and an overwhelming majority said "yes."  Given that the question was asked at the height of the peace movement, it was thought that Americans were coming around to the demands to withdraw from the war.  

But follow up surveys showed that most of those who said "yes" turned out to be people in favor of ending the war by winning it, even if that meant escalation or even nuking Hanoi.  There were at least as many hawks as doves, and they both could say they were in favor of ending the war.  The survey question wound up telling us almost nothing about American attitudes about alternative policies on the war.