Bush Job Approval At 44%
What is most interesting to me is the fact that, at least in this poll, Bush’s numbers have been trending up from a low point in the spring. That means all summer and into this fall the Presidents numbers have been going up, something that would seem to put lie to the idea that the President is simply enjoying a “9/11 bump” in his approval numbers.
These results were also interesting:
Not a whole lot we can conclude from these numbers, other than to say that the folks who seem to think that the Democrats have a lock on electoral victory come this November are probably overstating their case a bit. Despite Democrat/media efforts to downplay the war on terror, it is still a very important issue for Americans. And while polls over the summer have shown dismal numbers for Republicans, we’re in campaign season now. More people are paying attention to politics beyond what they read in their newspapers and hear on the news, and I think that’s going to bring some better numbers for Republicans.
Update: Looking at this listing of recent polls it looks like the President’s approval numbers have gone up in every poll (except Rasmussen and Pew Research where he’s broke even) since the end of August. Tags: Media
I’m afraid that oversteps what the poll says by quite a bit.
One can safely conclude that most of those who have a very negative opinion of Bush (e.g., Democrats) are the same ones who believe that democracy may not work there, i.e., you’re just seeing another measure of partisanship.
Iraq still has a democracy, and even if there are stability problems, these are no worse than the problems shared (in the past) by young democracies like Columbia, Argentina and other South American countries. There is really no reason why it can’t succeed in Iraq just as it has anywhere else where it has been tried. Nor, when Columbia has had problems running itself, I didn’t see everybody panicking and saying “democracy won’t work there”.
So, “the realities of the region”? That’s more a “realities of American politics”.
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
I was oh so wrong the other day. Internet gambling is not like jacking off. Political polls are like jacking off, just not as satisfying.