Survey: Anger Toward Bush Intensifying

2/23/04 | By NANCY BENAC

[DarthVader]

WASHINGTON (AP) - In Arizona, Judy Donovan says she feels desperate for a new president. In Tennessee, Robert Wilson says he finds the president revolting. In Washington state, Maria Yurasek says she'd vote for a dog if it could beat President Bush.

A subtext to this year's presidential campaign is the intense anger that many Democrats are directing toward Bush, an attitude that has been growing in recent months.

``I've never seen anything like it,'' says Ted Jelen, a political science professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. ``There are people who just really, really hate this person.''

Fully a quarter of Americans - mostly Democrats - tell pollsters they have a very unfavorable opinion of the president, more than double the number from last April. When only Democrats are polled, more than half report they feel that way.

Further, in exit polls conducted during Democratic primaries, a sizable chunk of voters have been describing themselves as not just dissatisfied with Bush but outright angry - 51 percent in Delaware, 46 percent in Arizona and New Hampshire, 44 percent in Virginia and Wisconsin.

``They really have a head of steam up against Bush,'' said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. He said the level of political polarization surrounding Bush, the division between Republicans who favor him and Democrats who don't, exceeds even that for President Clinton in September 1998 during the impeachment battle.

A substantial number of independents who voted in the Democratic primaries expressed anger at Bush as well, exit polls found. For example, almost half of independents in the Delaware primary said they were angry, and about four in 10 in Virginia, Arizona, Iowa and New Hampshire. In Wisconsin, one in 10 of the Republicans who voted in the primaries said they were angry at Bush, and more than twice that many said they were dissatisfied.

Plenty of presidents have generated intense feelings, of course, but Democrats - and even some Republicans - think the phenomenon is outsized this year.

``I've never seen a Democratic Party more unified and more focused, and the anger helps do just that,'' said GOP pollster Frank Luntz. ``The intensity level is just so high. They're using four-letter words to describe him.''

In a recent focus group that Luntz conducted for MSNBC, technicians had to adjust the volume levels because the Bush-haters were ``so gosh-darn loud'' they were drowning out the president's supporters, who were more numerous, Luntz said. ``It was a real problem.''

Bush was asked about the anger in a recent interview on NBC and said he found it perplexing and disappointing. ``When you ask hard things of people, it can create tensions. And heck, I don't know why people do it,'' he said.

His campaign spokesman, Terry Holt, dismisses the anger as something stoked by Democratic presidential candidates and confined to core party activists. He said it also reflects Democratic frustration at Bush's success in pushing through his agenda.

John McAdams, a political scientist at Marquette University, said resentment of Bush is particularly strong among liberals who already hold three things against him: ``First, he's a conservative. Second, he's a Christian. And third, he's a Texan. When you add all of those things up, that invokes pretty much every symbol of the cultural wars.''

``It's particularly galling when somebody who mangles his syntax and doesn't pronounce words extremely well and is from Texas beats you,'' McAdams added.

Some of the anger at Bush stretches back to his 2000 election, when the president lost the popular vote but took the majority of electoral votes after the Supreme Court stopped a recount in Florida.

``It's the long view of Bush in the minds of Democrats,'' said pollster Kohut. ``He came into office in a way that they felt was unfair. They gave him the benefit of the doubt and rallied to him after the 9-11 attacks for some time, and then he disappointed them in the way he dealt with Iraq'' and by pursuing a more conservative course than they expected.

A Bush opponent can vote against the president only once in November, no matter how intense the anger. So does it matter how much voters dislike him, if these are people who would have voted against him anyway?

Political analysts say the intensity of the anti-Bush sentiment could translate into higher turnout by mobilizing the Democratic base. The possible pitfall for Democrats, however, is that strident anti-Bush rhetoric could turn off swing and independent voters who like Bush personally but might be convinced through reasoned argument that his policies are wrongheaded.

``Anger is not necessarily a productive emotion when it comes to politics,'' Luntz said. ``The anger against Bill Clinton was so fierce and over the top that it helped him in 1996 and then again during the impeachment in 1998. People got more angry at those yelling at the president than at the president himself. You could easily see the same thing happening here.''

[muskogee]

Kerry has "... voted each and every time against any drilling in ANWR and the US, he has repeatedly opposed the oil industry."

The dream candidate for OPEC. (and higher gas prices)

[Zack Nguyen]

"There are people who just really, really hate this person."

I think this is true, and because of a few reasons. 1) Bush is openly Christian and some people just can't abide it, 2) Bush speaks of the War on Terror as a battle against evil, and that conflicts with the left, which is that there is no evil, only bad circumstances, and 3) Bush is not afraid to invade a country to protect us against Terror, and the elft simply hates the use of the military in wars for national interest.

[princess leah]

Look, you know they're desperate because nothing they've done against Bush has worked...they've even tried smearing Rush Limbaugh and also planning a "liberal radio show"...these are signs of a desperate group of LOSERS!"

[jammer]

I believe you are correct there. I also believe that the intensity of the hatred is directly related to the effectiveness of the president in getting his agenda accomplished. GHWB didn't generate venom at this pathological level precisely because, with the exceptions of the Gulf War and Clarence Thomas, he didn't do much that was far outside what libs considered reasonable.

Now, the debate about whether Nixon, GHWB--or GWB for that matter, were conservative may be left for another time.

[nobody_knows]

"Amongst peeople who ALREADY hate Bush, yes.

However, amongst people who didn't ALREADY hate him, there is no "surge" in anger. But, that is what the media would like us to think."

---

Exactly! A quick googleation of the names turned up this quote from Maria Yurasek from Washington state. I'm sure if I searched the other names, I could find similar quotes from the past of otheres quoted here. The press is lazy, and looking to stir the pot.

"Maria Yurasek, who attended a caucus at Spokane's Chase Middle School, said Dean "reminds me of an old boyfriend. He seems angry. I don't think Dean can beat Bush. I would vote for a dog if he could beat Bush. I would vote for Satan."

[Future Snake Eater]

Absolutely. Let some rampaging commie punk try to break into my home to loot. He'll be meeting my friends Mr. Heckler and Mr. Koch. No mercy towards them!

[PigRigger]

Not worried about those on the left who despise Bush. They think via emotion; nothing on the right will satisfy their wishes.

What concerns me more is who Kerry will pick as his running mate. My guess is that it will be Edwards.

He is smooth, well spoken, and good looking; he will be very attractive to the soccer mom crowd.

If he starts talking about how everything he does is "for the children" he'll put the soccer mom's in a tizzy, possibly escalating them into "Gone With The Wind" fantasies.

In addition, if he plays on how much he enjoys watching NASCAR, we on the right might be in trouble.

[MrB]

One theme running through your enumerated reasons for their hatred is Bush's ability to actually act and lead.

This is so foreign to their handwringing M.O. that they have a xenophobic hatred of him.

[JasonC]

There is genuine anger on the left and the cause is obvious. He showed they were bombastic, defeatist fools. Their pride does not enjoy that. It is not complicated.

[vaudine]

The Dems need to get over it. This kind of hate is not healthy.

This is TOTALLY media drummed up and pushed. The media are transferring their hate to compliant dems. I am sick of hearing this.

When it comes to it, the thought of a Kerry, Edwards, etc. in the WH makes me sick--not because of them personally, but because of what it would mean for this country.

vaudine

[DarthVader]

They will have to deal with Smith, Wesson and me.

[I'm ALL Right!]

bingo! With every lie they tell I become more angry!

[KJacob]

If Kerry supports oil drilling in the US it should play right into Bush's hand. Bush will simply have to ask why Kerry did not support it a year ago when it was a hot issue.

[DarthVader]

My anger is turning to righteous indignation and that is a force that cannot be beaten. Because it directs itself against behavior and attitudes that are morally wrong. Righteous indigination is stronger than anger and with it is the resolve to crush and utterly defeat things that are evil.

[Kerberos]

"How so? Do you not know how conservatives and liberals differ or are you just being difficult?"

I know what my perception of how conservatives and liberals differ, but what I am trying to get is what your perception is.

Are you having difficulty explaining that?

[goodnesswins]

If the "Left" had any brains they'd be angry at Saddam, or those who attacked America......I'm so sick of hearing how "angry" they are at President Bush. They are like petulant little teenagers angry at their parents....sheesh.

[DarthVader]

But there you have hit the nail on the head. If the Left had any brains. What brains?

[Dr.Deth]

A Bush opponent can vote against the president only once in November, no matter how intense the anger.

Riiiight. Keep believing that one, and I have some oceanfront property I'd like to sell you. Cheap.

[cwb]

"The only difference is, the media is taking notice this time because they share the sentiment."

There's one more difference: Those people who despised Clinton were marginalized and belittled by the media as "Clinton-haters" or part of the "vast right-wing conspiracy." In the case of Bush, the media has made no attempt to admonish those with this same hatred...and in fact, they almost take pride in reporting this hatred, in an attempt influence others.

[King Black Robe]

Excellent point!