Nearly half of Americans wouldn't vote for Bush again

AFP ^ | 08-23-03

[Brian S]

Excerpt and Link to the Newsweek article

When is Enough Enough?

By Jennifer Barrett, Newsweek Web Exclusive

Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the U.S. mission in Iraq, saying the United States should reduce its spending and scale back its efforts there, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll.SIXTY-NINE PERCENT of Americans polled say they are very concerned (40 percent) or somewhat concerned (29 percent) that the United States will be bogged down for many years in Iraq without making much progress in achieving its goals. Just 18 percent say they're confident that a stable, democratic form of government can take shape in Iraq over the long term; 37 percent are somewhat confident. Just 13 percent say U.S. efforts to establish security and rebuild Iraq have gone very well since May 1, when combat officially ended; 39 percent say somewhat well.

Nearly half of respondents, 47 percent, say they are very concerned that the cost of maintaining troops in Iraq will lead to a large budget deficit and seriously hurt the U.S. economy. And 60 percent of those polled say the estimated $1 billion per week that the United States is spending is too much and the country should scale back its efforts. One-third supports the current spending levels for now, but just 15 percent of those polled say they would support maintaining the current spending levels for three years or more.

[B Knotts]

A serious, massive crackdown on illegal immigration could boost his numbers quickly.

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

"Nearly half of respondents, 47 percent, say they are very concerned that the cost of maintaining troops in Iraq will lead to a large budget deficit and seriously hurt the U.S. economy"

OH! I seem to remember the same crowd was yelling a while ago that we were in the war for "oil"??????? Well., where are the oil profits?

[Choose Ye This Day]

A whole lot can happen in 14 months.

Call me an eternal optimist, but I'm betting those numbers will look decidedly different come next October. It may not be a landslide, but it will definitely not be 50:50 again.

[Dog Gone]

Blah blah blah. Gimme a poll of likely voters in about 6 months after the economic recovery can't be hidden by the press.

[B Knotts]

And, it would win him California.

[ambrose]

He won't do it. Wouldn't be prudent.

[B Knotts]

That's true. The economy is improving, but it's not obvious to most people yet.

[B Knotts]

I wish he'd send Rove to the doghouse on this one.

[Jim Robinson]

LOL. More than half of Americans didn't vote for him the FIRST time. He was selected, not elected. Remember? Bwahahahhahaha.

[Burkeman1]

I would be interesting to see the numbers on his father at the same point in his first term. I think at one point Bush I had approval ratings as high as 85 percent after the first gulf war and then they dropped. How far and how fast is the question? The economy is anemic and may or may not be getting better. Iraq is a concern as well and from the numbers above the spending on Iraq seems to concern Americans more than the continuing casualties.

[B Knotts]

Or, better yet, the woodshed. :-)

[dogbyte12]

This is a jobless recovery. When 3,000,000 more people are out of work, it's hard to tell them in the midst of another layoff of 1,300 at HP, and 1,400 at Boeing, that technically the economy is growing, even though unemployment is up. Somebody refinancing their home in order to stay afloat while they look for work is not interested in technical arguments.

[Timesink]

This is a classic polling/reporting trick. When you pair up an elected official with a hypothetical "somebody else" and ask the public to choose, you always get relatively high numbers choosing "someone else." But when you pair the same elected official against the actual human beings that are fighting to challenge said politician in the next election, the percentage of people choosing that specific Somebody Else drops sharply.

Put another way:

Pollster: "So do you think Bush should serve a second term, or would you rather have a new face in the White House?"

Voter: "Well, I'm getting tired of Bush. It turns out he doesn't agree with me 100% on every single political issue, so he should probably go. I'd like to see someone else elected."

Pollster: "Okay, say that in November 2004 the election will be between Bush and John Kerry. Who would you vote for?"

Voter: "John Kerry? That psycho? Holy crap! Bush all the way, dude!"

Thus far, Bush is handily beating all potential RAT candidates when he is placed head-to-head with them individually in political polls.

[Burkeman1]

I wonder if Nader is going to run again? Haven't heard anything from him in some time (except his incredible claim that if he were President- 9/11 would never have occured.)

[Brian S]

Did even half of the American people even vote at all? ;)

[anniegetyourgun]

yada yada yada....

So, where's the poll that says more than half of those surveyed are gonna vote for Howard Dean instead?