Posted on 08/24/2003 6:07:43 AM PDT by truthandlife
The majority of American voters would not like to see President Bush re-elected to another term according to a poll by Newsweek magazine.
The survey released Saturday showed that 49 percent of registered voters would not back the president for a second term if the vote were held now. Forty-four percent would support Mr. Bush's re-election.
The poll marked the first time in a Newsweek survey that supporters of Mr. Bush were out-numbered by those who would not like to see him back remain in office. In April, 52 percent of voters backed the president for a second term, while 38 percent did not.
The Newsweek report attributed the decline in the president's popularity to public disenchantment over the Iraq war. The poll found 69 percent of respondents said they were concerned that the United States will be bogged down for many years in Iraq without achieving its goals there.
Nearly half of those polled said they were concerned that the cost of the war will lead to a large budget deficit and seriously impact the U.S. economy. And more than half said they thought the estimated $1 billion per week the United States is paying for the war effort is too much and should be scaled back.
However, 61 percent still believe the United States was right to take military action against Iraq in March.
Only 18 percent of those polled believe a stable, democratic government can be set up in Iraq in the long term. And only 13 percent of respondents said U.S. efforts to establish security in Iraq and rebuild the country have gone well since May 1, when combat officially ended.
The Newsweek poll results are based on telephone interviews with more than one thousand adults aged 18 and older. It was conducted on August 21 and 22. The margin of error is plus or minus three percent.
OPEN ASSIGNMENT
MISSION TO SAVE AMERICAN JOBS
August 24, 2003
President Bush:
Mr. President your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to recover the 3+ million jobs lost on your watch. You are to find where they went, recover them, and prevent this from happening again.
You have until November 2004 to complete this mission.
If you choose not to accept this mission, or are incapable of performing, don't run in the GOP Primary so another Republican can accept this important mission for America.
American Citizen Voter
PS Ronald Reagan was the last Republican to understand. Ross Perot sent a warning to your Dad but since then all we hear is the mantra, 'Perot gave us Clinton'. Actually your Dad gave us Perot.
Question - "Is it possible another candidate could get your vote if Iraq becomes a quagmire"?
Answer - "Uh, well, sure, I guess so."
:)
Seriously, I've been preaching here for months that there are an awful lot of people on our side who are overly optimistic and think Bush's re-election in 2004 is a done deal. And I know it's 14 and a half months until the election. That is a long time.
And you can shoot the messenger ... i.e., the poll ... simply because it comes from a "liberal" or "socialist" source.
But given the state of the economy right now, and the fact that for the last three generations people have looked to Big Daddy in the White House to ensure that they're employed (thanks FDR), and the fact that even though things are definitely starting to turn around the American electorate in 2003 suffers from chronic ADHD and expects things to happen in one 24-hour news cycle (we've been in Iraq for five months and the way everybody acts, it's like we've been over there for five years in a "quagmire"), these numbers do not surprise me at all.
The answer here is not to shoot the messenger or pooh-pooh the poll results. The answer here is not to list all the ways that Bush has disappointed "true" or "social" conservatives (would you have found Algore preferable?) to where they might sit on their hands or toss their votes away on third parties.
The answer here is to dump the overconfidence, dump the strutting and preening and to act, until the polls close on Election Day 2004, with the mindset that Bush is down 20 points on the night before the election, and to work 365/24/7, literally work our fingers to the bone, to ensure that he's returned to the White House. Because he may not be a perfect option, but IMHO he's the ONLY option.
Nah. Bush's performance gave us Perot.
You have been duped by a cynical ploy into thinking that either Bush is Conservative. I want a job-creating Conservative-Republican to be nominated. Not a Clinton II.
Hillary or Dean might be the best thing for Bush. If a so called "middle of the roader" Democrat wins the nomination, Bush is going to have a lot more dificult time winning because if things go as they have been going, many Christian conservatives will just stay home. If Hillary runs, they will come out in droves no matter how liberal Bush's policies are.
Utter hogwash, and one more insult to the credibility of this magazine and journalism in general.
Several elections of the last decade were won with less than 50% of total vote. The attacks this faction runs on any who question policy can easily backfire and cost Bush the election.
The paleo and libertarian factions of the republican party are not happy, without them staying with the lessor of two evils mantra Bush is toast.
This Newsweek poll is just part of the liberal media drive to take down Bush. They can't stand him and they will hound him from here on out.
I met him on Friday and he seems tired. We need to continue pray for him now more than ever!
Newsweaks push poll didn't even used likely voters, or even registered voters but adults over the age of 18. Did they just use the San Fran and NYC phone exchanges for this poll too?
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