Not good. See also Chris Bowers.
Update: Steve Soto:
Gallup is the only pollster that is showing Bush’s approval rating back in the mid-forties, but I am not surprised.
Bush is focusing on his Daddy Protector image because it’s the only selling point he left with anyone, especially the cultists. Bashing the media and Democrats for being against him is Bush’s way to drive up his numbers with the base and get those approval ratings to a safe enough number so that the wingers don’t stay home on Election Day. The president commands all the news cycles, and Democrats lack a single voice of opposition that can get an alternate message into the same news cycle. Neither Harry Reid nor Nancy Pelosi are suited to that task, yet it is critical that both of them designate one member from each house to rebut everything Bush says every day and get the opposing view into the same cycle. Pelosi already made sure that John Murtha responded to Bush’s appearance at the UN today so that his remarks are already being covered side-by-side with Bush’s. Reid needs to find a telegenic designee who can do the same for Senate Democrats right away.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for Democrats to challenge Bush in every news cycle. There needs to be a national Democrat like Murtha and Joe Biden to get the Democratic viewpoint out there every day, and prevent the White House from sweeping bad news bad news from Iraq under the rug every day, like the news that our military needs to send more troops into Iraq, and that drawdown plans are more distant now than they ever have been. Yet for all his rhetoric today at the UN about wanting to reach out to Islamic nations, Bush has still not called for a regional security and economic development summit to stabilize Iraq, and bring its neighbors into the solution and invest in them some responsibility for making it happen. This is something right up Biden’s alley. Democrats need to understand that as the Gallup poll shows, unless voters are reminded of how bad things have gotten in Iraq every day, Bush will be able to convince many likely voters that we were right to invade.
This recent polling data tells me that voters have a clear perspective on the war in Iraq…perhaps more cogent than either Party. They feel it is being handled poorly, they know what a civil war looks like, they believe Congress has failed to do its part in guiding and overseeing the executive branch, and they realize that the notion of exporting democracy to the Middle East is a Bush Doctrine that fails to recognize the realities in the region. Finally, they believe that Middle East stability is important and that a withdrawal that leaves Iraq in chaos may well be detrimental to the United States.
That, my friends, is one spot on analysis and suggests that voters have discerned fact from fiction with an impressive demonstration of acuity. Perhaps both parties will someday learn that the truth is, in the final analysis, the most powerful campaign strategy available. Don’t hold your breath.
Read more here:
http://www.thoughttheater.com/2006/09/both_parties_miss_mark_poll_sh.php
Gee, first my Dog dies this morning and now this. On the upside if you could just pile on all the bad stuff today, tomorrow ought to be a piece of cake. But today being bad is ok…..I am going to jump on the trend of blaming white liberal bloggers for everything, including the cold , cloudy weather in Iowa(snark)…
As GBush Sr would say” Those nutty pollisters”…:) I am not going to go into my normal outrage at how stupid the voting public has to be to buy bush’s bs…Frankly I give up on people.The polls prove what I have always said..”Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything” Sad isn’t it?Is it time to start scouting for a new country yet?
While Mr. DiRito shows some optimism, I am with Maha and depressed as hell. I marvel at the number of Americans who cannot think for themselves. Where did they all come from?
The person who seems to me to have the best ideas on getting those who will vote Democatic is Brent Budowsky. The left and center needs to act on many of his suggestions. I plan to. However, I still think the winning scenario, particularly at moving the African American and Latino voters, is rerunning the scenes of Katrina, pointing out how the Republicans failed Americans then and will fail them over and over. For others, running ads such as the ones against George Allen regarding his not voting for armor for the troops. List all the wrongs that have been done to the troops by the Republicans over and over and ask if that is what they want for any loved one who may be serving in the armed forces. Ask how that keeps us safer when they can’t even keep the troops they send into harm’s way safer.
Additionally, Josh Marshall made a statement yesterday that I think could resonant with many voters, which was:
“Terrorism is scary. More so if you live in a major city like New York. But life’s hard. And compared to nuclear holocaust it’s really pretty much a walk in the park, isn’t it?”
— Josh Marshall
And, a nuclear holocaust is what we will have if we start a war with Iran. Time to get out that ad with the little girl and the mushroom cloud and put the faces of many Republicans on it–including William Kristol.
In 1987, I was hit by a car while crossing in a marked crosswalk with the light. Today, I still have more fear of that happening to me a second time than of any terrorism occurring in my vicinity–and, I live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
I did A LOT of partying back in the day but my memory still seems to be stronger than almost half of the voting public.
I’m an independent that will be doing GoTV for democrats this year.
I’m not alone.
I’ve helped on both republican senate races (2000 Tom Campbell vs Diane Feinstein CA) and democratic senate races (1996 Harvey Gantt vs Jesse Helms NC). I’ve also run for office personally (IN state legislature 1994, 1998) and promoted independent candidates at a local level.
This year it is critical that the republicans not carry both houses of Congress. And while the USA today poll is disheartening, find solace in the numbers of volunteers like myself that will work to turn out non republican voters in November. Also if you’re unaware of it take heart in http://electoral-vote.com which is showing a 50-50 split in the Senate today, which is a change from 49-51 on September 14.
justme, sorry about your dog. That has to be hard.
About the poll showing Bush up in the mid-forties. Sorry, but that does not show much gain considering the all-out efforting Bush and Co. are doing to try to jump-start his base. Regarding the Congressional midterms, the Dems are ahead by 10% among registered voters, and ahead by 6% among what are termed ‘likely voters’ [and this last category is considered unreliable at this point in time…..becoming more reliable as the election time nears].
In spite of Bush’s fear-mongering about terrorism, I think what folks are really fearing is ‘more of the same’. November’s voting will nicely prove that……if the votes are properly counted.
All we can do is pressure our local nat’l dems (congressional delegates, etc.) to hammer on that theme. No one knows what is going on in Iraq because the Bushies won’t tell us, but all we can find out is bad. Nothing is changing–that means the Bushies either approve of that situation, or don’t care enough to change it.
Unless you want to be stuck in the mud for the next few years, vote Dem. At least they’ll do something, anything and that’s better than what we have now.
On the Katrina comment, I wonder how universal that would be. I get the feeling that a lot of non-minorities are just tired of hearing about it so it might actually be a turn off.
As for those of us who happen to be a little browner or a lot browner… well we already knew that the GOP hated our guts unless we were rich. Now it just got entrenched for the next 25 years instead of the next 10–but a reminder can’t hurt. That’s the message that needs to go out. They actually do hate you, otherwise they wouldn’t have let those people suffer like that.
Put this in context. Once upon a time you’d be ecstatic that Bush’s approval rating was below 50%. Now the context has shifted so much that he has to RISE to 44%.
I, for one, see this as a blip.
Move over Lee Siegel. Daniel DiRito sees the entire nation as a sockpuppet. Stop mucking up better blogs.
Thanks Donna. 🙂 All day long my parrot has been making me feel better by repeating my favorite line”BUSH SUCKS” it’s hard to cry when your laughing..Gotta love a smart bird!He always knows the right thing to say!
On our local news it was reported that in Iowa 53% disapprove of bush to 47% approval – a gain of roughly 6 points from the last poll for the decider.The airwaves are FILLED with political ads now… and as far as ad wars go the GOP has out spent the left at this point.Dems(here in Iowa at least) in the congressional field seem to have the advantage among voters, as the negatives are higher for the GOP, which means some people seem to grasp the need for checks and balance.Lets hope that equals big win for the left in Nov….
Oh god, no, NOT Biden. He’s a supercilious twit. Barack Obama is the clear choice as spokesperson (which I agree we need).
Lord knows how polls can be manipulated so I don’t think we need to be too concerned about this little blip. The repugs are desperate to generate any positive news they can. My concern is election day – until we can be certain that every votes counts and count every vote, we are up the proverbial creek.
Sen. Obama could very well be the statesman we are all searching for. Someone to not only carry across the race line but also the party line. I do think he is patiently biding his time to get experience under his belt.
I think there’s a substantial percentage who will blindly support Bush, and that’s depressing – but the poll numbers I was reading from yesterday’s USA Today on the percentage of Americans willing to ditch the Geneva conventions and to okay torture really got me down. Also, this was depressing: “A 55%-42% majority supported his policy of wiretapping phone conversations between U.S. citizens here and suspected terrorists in other countries without getting a court order.†Do a substantial percentage of Americans really crave authoritarianism (like these polling data suggest)? Despite some of the positive signs others have noted here, it’s hard to smile about any of those positive signs.
I saw Clinton on Daily Show yesterday afternoon and thereafter had that song stuck in my head – don’t know the name – with the prominent line “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone . . .â€
Sorry about your dog, justme. That totally sucks.
Agree with Steve Soto that the Dems absolutely need to refute Bush with telegenic spokespersons at every step. I’m reminded of a great piece, which lays out the larger strategy, from the late great BopNews, Learn How To Lose.
Thanks for your kindness Temperance….
The polls you spoke of got me down worse really…especially the torture and wiretapping….I blame it all on the poor teaching of civics in the public school(and private too I imagine).We really do a rotten job of teaching children about our system of government,history,laws,ect and then we wonder why Americans seem brain dead when we see polls like this. It is too soon to lose hope but it is damn depressing.
“Paved Paradise” by Joni Mitchell, temperance.
You are right, justme, about the lack of education in the basics in humanity. The Golden Rule has changed from “Do unto others as you would etc.” Now it’s “Do unto others BEFORE they do unto you.” And with so much ‘religion’ around, what happened to WWJD?!
OK…..check this out.
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200609190002
Should raise your spirits!