Posted on 12/02/2005 2:04:57 PM PST by Daralundy
Why Wait Three Years for Our Next President?
NEW YORK--By August 2003 California Governor Gray Davis' approval rating had plunged to 22 percent. Two months later, he lost a special recall election.
Now it's George W. Bush's turn to take a drubbing. The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds that only 37 percent of Americans think he's doing a good job, a record low for him and a dangerous drop below the historical benchmark of 40 percent.
"When a president falls below 40 percent approval in public opinion polls--as President Bush has done twice in the past two months--it's usually a sign of serious political danger," writes Richard Benedetto in USA Today. "Since 1950, five of the eight other presidents who fell below 40 percent--Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush--lost their bids for reelection or opted not to run again. A sixth, Richard Nixon, was overwhelmed by the Watergate scandal and resigned. Only two, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, turned things around." But even Clinton never regained his former appeal. His hand-picked successor, vice president Al Gore, won the 2000 election by such a narrow margin that Republicans were able to steal it away.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
It is on it, but you have to look hard. Apparently he and Yahoo are ashamed enough of this opinion piece disguised to appear as news, that they don't put the author in a prominent position
so it can be "NEWS"
I'd like to see Free Republic adopt a policy of not allowing garbage like this to be posted unless the author's name is clearly posted on the piece. This garbage could have been written (and probably was) by a homosexual, a pedophile, a drug addict or even a murdering terrorist "insurgent" and we would never know it. Obviously, the moron that wrote this piece was too embarrassed to put his/her/it's name on it. This is just a piece of generic DemocRAT garbage.
I couldn't agree me - this is one president who has balls and went after the terrorists after we had a wuss in the WH for 8 years. Part of 911 HAS to be Clintoons fault and I believe that would have been found in the 911 Omission Commission if Jamie Gorelick was made to testify rather than being on the commission (and if Snady Burgler hadn't been able to mess with the records).
ROFLMAO! Talk about a phony statistic. First, the author can get back to me when he figures out that GWB can't run for reelection, so the above is not applicable.
Second, there have been 11 presidents since 1950.
In 1950, Truman was in what amounted to his second term, because FDR died less than three months after his 4th inaugural. All presidents until FDR respected the two-term precedent set by George Washington. The reaction to FDR's four terms resulted in the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution being passed Congress on March 21, 1947. It was ratified by 3/4ths of states quickly, achieving full ratification on February 27, 1951. Truman was exempt and could have run for a third term, but he respected the prevailing opinion of the times.
All of the other 10 presidents since 1950 were limited to two terms. Only half -- Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Bush 43 -- have won a 2nd term. It can be argued that Johnson's one term was really Kennedy's 2nd. In any case, Johnson was a worn out 60-year-old man with serious heart disease by 1968. He lived less than five full years after leaving office.
Ford was an accidental president, the first unelected president in our history. Carter was a totally pathetic failure, and we didn't need opinion polls to tell us such.
As for GHWB, he was undone by the modern media machine that's tried to get the scalp of every Republican president since Watergate, as well as by his breaking of the no new taxes pledge.
Polls have nothing to do with the actual history of the last 50 years other than the way they have been increasingly used since Watergate to drive public opinion rather than merely report it.
These idiots have no political power, and have nothing better to do with their time than flesh out their delusions.
BRAVO! Nothing like facts, to put it to the lies.
Who wrote this crap?
Grin...when the lies are this easy to refute it's a wonder the Dims keep trying.
Rall never struck me as a particularly smart man. His main emotion in life is anger.
It got me to thinking what pundits must be like in real life, if we can extrapolate from what they write.
Thomas Sowell has his share of angry columns. He also has columns where he talks about photography and the genius of Ansel Adams. He writes about baseball and longtime friends. He comes across as a gruff type, but someone who is basically enjoying life. One could enjoy going to the ballgame with Sowell.
Coulter has her angry columns, but she also seems like someone who has fun in life. Her columns are laced with humor. She seems like someone who would be fun to talk to at a party.
But Rall's only emotion is anger. He sounds like he'd be the guy in a corner at a party going on about how life sucks. I can't imagine how he'd be any fun to have around.
Rasmussen has Bush at 46% which is usually higher than most 2nd term presidents. CNN/Gallop is BS LW propaganda. Ignore it for the bowel movement that it is.
Funny how all we heard during impeachment, and after, was how very, very popular Clinton was. Remember all the polls and such?
That's the problem with projecting elections based on one guy's approval ratings -- he is, in effect, running against himself.
But, once you gave the voters a choice and identified Bush's opponent as Algore!!!, you could sit and watch the polls grow like corn in Iowa in August.
My favorite is the one who said "T-Minus 1 month or else".
Yeah, I called my good buddy Karl and he says it's a good idea. They're gonna see if they can make it happen. Can't wait to see the look on Kerry/Kennedy/Klintoon's faces. It'll be a threpeat. Selected, selected and reselected! LOL
How is this news? And who wrote it?
It's Rall, alright. Look on the left, in very small type, near the "My Yahoo" button.
Rall makes roaches look good...
Because the longer Bush stays in, the more insane you @ssholes get! A Weapon of Moron Destruction!
On Yahoo's Opinion page:
THE CASE FOR A NATIONAL RECALL ELECTION
Ted Rall - Fri Dec 2, 2:43 PM ET
Why Wait Three Years for Our Next President?
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