Bush did not help himself with his base voters by nominating a Sandra Day O'Connor clone. Even with the oversampling of Donks, these numbers are to be expected. The Base is disgusted. "Another Scalia", indeed!
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Posted on 10/07/2005 1:54:40 PM PDT by metalmanx2j
WASHINGTON - Evangelicals, Republican women, Southerners and other critical groups in President Bush's political coalition are increasingly worried about the direction the nation is headed and disappointed with his performance, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
The growing unease could be a troubling sign for a White House already struggling to keep the Republican Party base from slipping over Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, Gulf Coast spending projects, immigration and other issues.
"Politically, this is very serious for the president," said James Thurber, a political scientist at American University. "If the base of his party has lost faith, that could spell trouble for his policy agenda and for the party generally."
Public sentiment about the nation's direction has sunk to new depths at a time people are anxious about Iraq, the economy, gas prices and the management of billions of dollars being spent for recovery from the nation's worst natural disaster.
Only 28 percent say the country is headed in the right direction while two-thirds, 66 percent, say it is on the wrong track, the poll found.
Those most likely to have lost confidence about the nation's direction over the past year include white evangelicals, down 30 percentage points since November, Republican women, down 28 points, Southerners, down 26 points, and suburban men, down 20 points.
Bush's supporters are uneasy about issues including federal deficits, immigration and his latest nomination for the Supreme Court. Social conservatives are concerned about his choice of Miers, a relatively unknown lawyer who has most recently served as White House counsel.
"Bush is trying to get more support generally from the American public by seeming more moderate and showing he's a strong leader at the same time he has a rebellion within his own party," Thurber said. "The far right is starting to be very open about their claim that he's not a real conservative."
The president's job approval is mired at the lowest level of his presidency — 39 percent. While four of five Republicans say they approve of Bush's job performance — enthusiasm in that support has dipped over the last year.
Almost two-thirds of Republicans strongly approved of the job done by Bush in December 2004, soon after his re-election. The AP-Ipsos survey found that just half in his own party feel that way now.
The intensity of support for Bush's job performance has also dropped sharply among white evangelicals, Southerners, people from rural areas and suburban men.
"We've lost focus on where we're supposed to be going and not able to respond to the crises that affect the people of this country," said David Ernest, a Republican from San Ramon, Calif., who is angry about the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. "We're mired in a Middle Eastern adventure and we've taken the focus off of our own country."
Bush has tried to reassure conservatives about his Supreme Court nominee. He's also trying to counter critics of the war by tying U.S. efforts in Iraq to the larger war against terrorism. And he's made frequent trips to the areas devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita to offset criticism of the government's initial response to Katrina.
Even those efforts get viewed with suspicion by some.
"I just think the president is doing things for political reasons, not what's right for the people," said Traci Wallace, a Democrat from Tallahassee, Fla. "Every time he makes a trip to the hurricane zone, he's blowing a million dollars."
Of all the problems facing the country, the continuing war in Iraq is the one that troubles some Bush supporters the most.
"I approve of what the president is doing, but it's a mixed decision," said Richard Saulinski, a Republican from Orland Park, Ill. "We should get out of Iraq. It seems like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. I just think we're dealing with a culture we don't really understand."
The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted by Ipsos, an international polling company, from Monday to Wednesday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
I am worried about the budget, but arn't there more importan pressing issues going on right now? Like the war and hurricane destruction? Maybe I am wrong though.
Ipsos/AP poll
Democrats polled 48%
Republicans polled 40%
"We've lost focus on where we're supposed to be going and not able to respond to the crises that affect the people of this country," said David Ernest, a Republican from San Ramon, Calif., who is angry about the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. "We're mired in a Middle Eastern adventure and we've taken the focus off of our own country."
Wow, even the Republicans in CA spout Dem talking points.
Polls are totally ridiculous and useless too. But leave it to some media person with too much time on his/her hands to take some idiot poll and make a big story out of it.
I thought they had moved it to 57 rats 43 pubbies?
BREAKING NEWS!!! NEWS FLASH!!! ALERT!!!
I'm a Republican, female and I'm not disillusioned. I'm not frantic. I'm NOT abandoning Bush. I'm NOT going to turn into a democrat. I am NOT sick to death over Harriet Miers. I AM going to continue to support Republicans for office. (Well except for the RHINOs like McCain.)
Call me and ask ME for my opinion! Oh wait, I won't count will I because I don't fit the needed bias mode.
Jen
IpSOS is a push poll.
Ipsos, an international polling company
A FRENCH owned polling company
I doubt that Mr. Ernest is typical of Republicans nationwide. He sounds more like a Democrat.
Thanks...you just saved me a lot of typing.
Damage from Katrina $150,000,000,000 Afghan/Iraq war $252,000,000,000 Federal debt $8,000,000,000,000
At some point the debt becomes just as urgent as the other two. I don't know. Is $8 trillion really that bad? It's about 53 Katrinas or 32 Afghanistan/Iraq wars.
Bush did not help himself with his base voters by nominating a Sandra Day O'Connor clone. Even with the oversampling of Donks, these numbers are to be expected. The Base is disgusted. "Another Scalia", indeed!
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Anybody that still believes "polls" are worth something is a total idiot. The country is EXTREMELY divided right now. Blue against Red. These phony balony pollsters HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE who they are talking to on the other end of the line. The only thing they can take to the bank is that the person they are talking to is lying to them. DemocRATS have trained their apes to ALWAYS identify themselves as someone who "voted for Bush," is a "veteran," and doesn't like "the direction the country is going."
Legitimate criticisms from Bush's base. He should stop pandering to the Left and listen to the Right.
DITTO! Hillary is rubbing her hands in glee watching some republicans turn on their own party. This just feeds the undecideds and will result in a democrat majority next year. It makes me sick. I'm all for healthy debate but knee jerk reactionaries are only going to push dems toward victory.
French eh? Figures!! Thanks for the information.
(Back to eating Freedom Fries for me!)
Jen
I will never accept an AP/IPOS poll as accurate.
That stated, whatever problems I have right now, specifically it's Miers, I would like to just tell the Libs to STAY OUT OF OUR FAMILY DISPUTE!
Sit back, observe, watch how a healthy party fights over principle and learn how to do it yourselves. But quit pretending you understand the feelings of this base. We don't need the Libs two cents.
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