i posted below to another e-list a few months ago, seems relevant ...
of course, use of public opinion date is problematic, while percentage of folks opposed to vietnam war was about 2/3rds by 1970 in some polls, in others, only about 60% thought war was mistake as late as 1972, it's that 'framing' thing, how you ask it influences answer you receive...
moreover, even in '72 when no matter how one asked it, majority opposed war, percentage supporting *specific* u.s. actions offers contrast: about 60% supported nixon's mining of north vietnamese ports and almost 50% approved of continuous bombing in the north...
as for public attitude re. anti-war movement, some data indicated sizeable majorities in *agreement* with movement about the war (again, percentages vary according to ways questions were asked) even as percentage of public *supporting* movement maxed at about 50% (no small accomplishment given a half century of public opinion data suggesting that americans do not care much for demonstrators/protesters, for example, while 2/3rds opposed segregated facilities in interstate travel & terminals in 1963, 2/3rds also opposed freedom riders)...
almost all movement accounts - whether positive or negative - suggest/indicate waning following (take your pick) implosion of sds, kent state killings, fewer national demos, use of draft lottery, 'vietnamization' policy of withdrawing some u.s. ground troops...
however, such accounts generally fail to *account* for increasing number of local demos, increasing number of arrests stemming from such activities, growing resistance in military itself, and overall change in way that war was considered/discussed (amongst both public and policymakers)...
johnson/nixon administration insiders have indicated that mass demonstrations had restraining effect on way that war was prosecuted, but such demos had limited longitudinal utility, it was activities (the result, in part, of mass actions) such as those noted above that upped ante for political state, making cost of fighting war - in terms of domestic disruption, generational conflict, military insubordination, taxpayer criticism - increasingly too high... michael hoover
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