Think I'm gonna be sick if we can't turn this around.
G.W.B. has bounced back before; will he this time?
Since the sleazeclowns at USA Today won't let us post quotes, I'll just paraphrase: Bush is at 31% approval.
Wow, that is pretty low, wonder if it can drop any lower?
The MSM is trying to salvage the 06 elections.
They keep missin' the important part - just 'cause we have a few issues with Pres. Bush and an ineffective, spend-thrift 'Pubbie Congress, why would we vote for commie-pinko Demoncrats?
Gallup has Bush @ 31% and Bush has Gallup @3.1%. ;-)
The press has done their job. I've never, in my life, seen a hostile MSM press like we have now. I was away last week and caught 15 minutes, on one night, of the ABC Nightly News. If I did not follow the news as closely as I do, I'd say the same thing about Bush. In fact, if I just got my news from that show, I'd think this Country is about to come to an end...and I'm really not exaggerating too much.
This poll, taken May 5-7, has President Bush's approval rating at 31 percent, with 65 percent disapproval. That's down from 34 percent in late April, 37 percent in mid March, 39 percent in February, and 43 percent for most of January.
I just saw a Rasmussen poll that had President Bush's approval rating in the 40's, so who cares!
Almost certainly the 31% approval is an artifact of sampling. Consider an AP-Ipsos poll that had Bush with a 33% approval rating. According to DJ Drummond of Polipundit blog (http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=13243):
• The poll made no inquiry as to whether the respondent was a regular voter or had voted in the most recent elections or primaries; 18% of respondents stated they were not registered to vote.
• As often happens in such polls, Democrats out-sampled Republicans, 34 to 28 percent. Note that this leaves 38 percent as “independent” or “other”, which would include Communists, Socialists, Greens and whatever else lies at the dregs of political activity. This balance cannot be reasonably claimed to represent the voting public as a whole.
• When “leaners” were added in, the registered voter pool tilted even more to the Left, with Democrats leading Republicans 50 percent to 41 percent. This is clearly at odds with the actual participation of the last several elections, and therefore casts doubt on the results.
• 31% of the respondent pool was in the youngest age group, which is far greater than the actual voter participation of the young.
• Atheists represented 19% of the pool, far in excess of actual representation in Society, and far greater than actually vote as a portion of the electorate.
• Only 24% of respondents reported income between $50,000 a year and $100,000 for their household. The middle class therefore was significantly under-counted.
Gallup/USA Today isn't stupid enough to allow folks a look at the internals of their poll, but I would bet it is similarly skewed.
I'm going to copy Texasforever's excellent post to this thread for the complainers:
Reagan signed the first Gay-rights legislation in California; Bush has never signed any gay rights legislation.
Reagan broke his promise never to raise taxes with his “revenue enhancement” programs along with the largest FICA increase in history. Bush hasn’t raised taxes in any way .
Reagan cut and run in Lebanon after the first taking of casualties. Bush has stayed the course and held to his promise not to back down.
Reagan appointed 3 liberals and one conservative to the Supreme Court. Bush hass appointed 2 Conservatives and numerous lower court Conservatives.
Reagan talked a good game on abortion but Bush pushed for and got the late term abortion ban passed.
Reagan left office and immediately endorsed the Brady Bill in his first public appearance as an ex-president.
The myth of Reagan is exactly that. A myth. He was a great president because he could say the right things at the right time to make the country feel better. It is beyond dispute that Reagan beats Bush hands down when it comes to communication BUT Bush beats Reagan in every conservative category anyone cares to offer.
And I will add, Reagan signed an amnesty bill for illegals.
Think I'm gonna be sick if we can't turn this around.
If the economy keeps a-rollin', gas prices come down, the illegal alien situation is effectively addressed, Iran's nuke program is neutralized, and the Iraqis start showing some competence in running their own show the Prez's numbers should bounce back to well above 50% and the GOP will win big in the midterms.
Tall order, though.
I think it would take another major terrorist attack on our soil. Short of that I think it's highly unlikely his approval ratings will ever be really good again.
Wow, 31% is pretty darned bad. But the Administration has seemed rather flat-footed and inarticulate for quite a while now. Especially since the media skewered Bush so thoroughly in the aftermath of Katrina. I fully supported Bush throughout all the left-wing media assault, from Katrina to Iraq to the WOT. But the more recent Bush missteps involving Miers, Dubai, overspending, have been a bit withering. Adding a 'lack of communication' to all this (thank goodness there's a new press secretary), there hasn't been much to rally behind.
And, as for the illegal situation (which you and several others seem to discount), it really was a major turn for me. I always used to stop what I was doing, when I saw the President on the television, and watch. I've been a rah-rah Bush supporter since his days as governor, here in Texas. But, after his support for that McCain-Kennedy pseudo-amnesty bill, I frankly just don't want to think about him anymore. Seeing him on television, I now find myself muting my set. The whole thing gives me a sick feeling in my stomach. In a way, I'm hoping Bush will do something which will once again make me rally behind him, but I'm not really sure how possible that would be. Just as I've always viewed the liberal leftists as bound and determined to destroy American culture and traditions, I'm now recognizing a contingent of Wall Street Republicans that are basically no better. It's all been very eye-opening.
BULL... Bush is very effective.. even very very effective..
Just not for conservative agendas but for democrat agendas...
The boy has gotten legislation(by democrats) thru no democrat could have..
Bush is a heavy hitter just not for conservatives..
Hes not stupid his supporters are..
Republicans, do not despair. According to the May 8 NY Times, Rove is already on the case with a strategy to pull this election out of the fire. You can find the article under the following story line: "Rove Is Using Threat of Loss to Stir G.O.P."
According to this piece, "... Senate Republicans sent out a fund-raising letter this week seeking to use that possibility to fire up the base...[and] In regular West Wing breakfast sessions catered by the White House mess, Mr. Rove and the White House political director, Sara Taylor, have already been reaching out to nervous and vulnerable Republicans, three at a time, laying out an emerging three-prong attack on Democrats over national security, taxes and health care. ...
He has focused in particular on uniting them behind the administration's proposals to overhaul immigration, which include guest worker provisions that conservatives despise; the Iraq war, which has driven Mr. Bush's poll numbers sharply downward; and the Medicare prescription drug program, which the administration says will cost $872 billion from 2006 to 2014 and which Mr. Bush backed enthusiastically despite complaints from conservatives that it was a vast expansion of the social welfare state...."
So breathe easy folks. Help is on the way.
Yes, he's getting things wrong, but let's not succumb to this relentless media spin cycle.
Regards, Ivan
Nobody but the biggest bot would approve of him now. All of us would vote for him again over the Dems (or stay home) but he has been a disapointment. His failures on the borders and spending and his great ability to poke the base in the eye have caused him to lose my support. I will not vote for another Bush again. His father was a RINO. He is a RINO. And his brother is a RINO.