CBS News executive director of Elections and Survey on polling for Iran war and rising gas prices

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA) - Anthony Salvanto, CBS News Executive Director of Elections and Survey, spoke to Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation about a CBS News poll regarding the war in Iran and rising gas prices.

According to the CBS News poll, 66% of Americans believe the conflict with Iran is a war of choice, with 57% of Americans saying the conflict is going very or somewhat badly, with Brennan adding that skepticism is growing.

This prompted her to ask Salvanto why it's growing, to which he said:

"To evaluate a war, you need to know what the goals are, what you're comparing against. And the American people increasingly feel like they haven't gotten a clear explanation from in administration. So, against that backdrop, I asked them, OK, what do you think is important for the U.S. to be doing? The top answer was to have a quick and successful war. But beyond that, majority say they want to see the nuclear program in Iran stopped permanently. They'd like to see the Iranian people be safe and free. And really importantly, for a majority, it would not be acceptable for them to see the war end with the regime still in power.

Now, all those things might be incompatible with a quick war. And it wouldn't be the first time the public asked for a wide range of things. There's still a collective uncertainly about whether or not the U.S. would need to have boots on the ground, send in ground troops. But this is important about duration of this. There's still a lot of people who think this may take months, may take years. And what that goes to is approval. The longer you think this will last, the more disapproving of it you are. That all ties up in the uncertainty too."

When asked how Americans are feeling about the economy, specifically in regards to the price at the gas pumps, Salvanto said:

"Big, big number see now they've gone up. But it's the impact more broadly on the economy. They think the war is having both a short-term impact on gas prices and weakening the economy. But also I asked about the long-term, because you hear the argument out there, well, it will just take patience. And let's ride this out. But even in the long term, folks are not convinced that there's going to be an improvement in the economy and also that larger increase in gas prices.

The other part of this too is, they see this as a war of choice, as opposed to necessity. And what that does is it comes back to this, are you willing to have patience? Right now, at least as far as gas prices are concerned, most people say they don't think Americans should be willing to pay higher prices for it."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Salvanto, click here.