Most Americans see NSA leaker Snowden as whistle-blower, not traitor

More Americans see National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden as a whistle-blower (55 percent), than a traitor (34 percent), according to a poll released Thursday shortly after the former NSA contractor reportedly secured asylum in Russia.

The Quinnipiac University national poll, which had an error margin for plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, found the public mood unchanged from a similar survey on July 10.

“Most American voters think positively of Edward Snowden, but that was before he accepted asylum in Russia,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

By a 56 percent to 51 percent ratio, more Democrats than Republicans said Snowden was a whistle-blower. Slightly more Republicans than Democrats called him a traitor, 38 percent to 36 percent.