Posted on 10/21/2005 10:38:45 AM PDT by NYC Republican
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:
THE REAGAN PRESIDENCY FADES INTO IT'S TWILIGHT
CQ Weekly October 17, 1987
. . . It was vintage Reagan: flinty-eyed, sure of his aces. The terse words evoked the "make my day" challenge he had once used to wither Democratic talk of tax increases.
But this time it boomeranged. BORK'S nomination quickly plunged toward a resounding and stunning defeat, and much of the commentary that followed had the pall of a post-mortem on Reagan's political career.
This was not just any lost cause. It had been Reagan's self-proclaimed "No. 1 domestic priority." And it had been a cause that most thought Reagan could have won -- and should have won.
The label of "lame duck" which some had tried to paste on Reagan just days after his landslide re-election in 1984, seemed at long last to stick. Reaganism . . . now clearly seems to be a spent force.
. . . "It's variable when lame-ducking begins," notes Nelson W. Polsby, professor of political science at the University of Califronia at Berkeley. "With Reagan, you would have thought it would be later. But it began with Iran-contra."
Following revelations of arms sales to Iran . . . Reagan's Gallup Poll ratings took a 23-point nose dive. It was said to be the most precipitous decline in a president's approval rating since Gallup began asking questions.
. . . Democrats were quick to cite Reykjavik as evidence that Reagan was out of touch with, even uncomprehending of, the details of his administration.
That portrait was vividly reinforced by the Iran-contra revelations and even by the Bork episode, in which Reagan lost not only his confrontation with the Senate but his control of the situation. He stood by seeming helpless while a defeated Bork refused to withdraw, prolonging the embarrassment and delaying the choice of another nominee."
. . . Failing in the legislative branch, many social-agenda conservatives have come to see Reagan's choices for the judicial branch as their hope. After all, decisions from the bench -- particularly the Supreme Court -- have been their nemesis.
"The failure on this (Bork) nomination is very significant," says Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn. "This is where the President (was supposed to) deliver on the social agenda." . . . "
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . The more things change, the more they stay the same! And, oh yea, polls mean so much in determining a President's legacy -- NOT!!
I say Bush is MIERed in his own muck of a choice and Gas prices are biting him in the arse too!
. . . a POSITIVE poll from a RELEVANT CONSTITUENCY! [It's as meaningful as any of the other polls posted at FU}
PRESIDENTIAL PRAYER TEAM
This nonpartisan 'team' is comprised of Christians/Catholics/Believers from across the country. Last week, they were asked to evaluate the President's job performance -- here is what they had to say:
SUMMARY
There have been over 75,000 results to our President Bush Job Performance Survey. The results are displayed below.
(Results may not add up to 100% because of non-responses or because multiple answers were allowed for the question)
How do you feel about the job the President is doing?
82.7% Excellent job
12.3% Doing only a so-so job
03.1% Not doing very well
Bottomline: I trust a poll of 75,000 informed respondents MUCH more than the typical (MSM) poll of 1,000 clueless 'adults'!!!
You can read additional results at
http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pptnn_landing_0510b1&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr012=2s9tph4xj3.app23a
FU = FR
Thank you!
I think his numbers would be substantially higher if the MSM actually reported the news instead of operating as a Democrat hit machine. Their "reporting" on the war (and many other issues) is near treasonous. Good news is suppressed and bad news is hyped to the limit or in some cases just plain made up.
Anyone who blames Bush over the actions of the local and state government of La. because of Katrina, has a bone to pick with Bush. I will not discuss this issue any further with you. You have an agenda with him that I'm not privy too and won't be dragged into.
I love FR. It's a great forum for expressing and sharing ideas; however, I've recently gotten the feeling that we're in a cocoon in terms of what's really going on out there, particularly the MSM. Many of you have said they are done, or their demise is near. This whole sad episode proves that they are nearly as powerful as they've always been, in spite of what many of our fellow FReepers say.
Sure, we've made some strides (Rather-gate, etc), but overall, most Americans still get their news from the MSM, in small soundbites. Talk radio preaches to the choir, and FOX becomes more like the (lefty) rest every day, and they're both dwarfed in size by the lefty media.
Unfortunately, this is, for now, a sad reality, and the VERY reason Bush needs to use the bully pulpit and take the truth to the American people. He, Cheney, Frist, and Hastert have utterly failed in this regard.
Amen DrDeb!!! Amen!!!
LLS
Fine with me ... you obviously missed my point entirely. Maybe if I type real slooowww ...
Overall, a Yawnfest.
42% among National adults = 45% among likely voters.
Bush had 45% among Likely voters in the Rasmussen poll in 2004.
He recieved 62 MILLION votes.
Only a detestable lib who has the attention span of a ferret and the memory bank of a gnat would look at a Rasmussen poll of national adults and chirp.
During 2002, 2003 and 2004, Rasmussen only did polls of likely voters with side samples of national adults as a comparison. Had he used the national adult sample as his top sample, Bush would have hit as low as 40% in Rasmussen during 2004, when Bush hit 43% among likely voters in late May 2004.
I prefer to be an optimistic conservative. I look at my ranks of voters. In 1996, I had a list of two people who I looked at to vote at election time. For most of my life it was myself. I voted. Then I got a list of family members who never voted and friends in 2000 at about 30. In 2004, it hit 55. It continues to grow and the ranks have not fallen.
Enthusiasm may be low among thumb sucking libublicans, but reality turns in favor of the GOP in 2006.
Democrats look to their future voter ranks and see a stream of fetal runoff that's 32 years long.
45% approval among likely voters is pretty damn good considering the news bildge.
I trust that Rasmussen is correct as usual, but only a fool would look at the last month of polling and see anything but a range of 45% to 52% among likely voters and cringe.
Take the long view.
Be a true conservative.
I do not worry.
I hold ranks and fight and win.
The 2005 bildge flows like it did last year and the year before.
Perspective, my fellow conservatives.
45%, ain't so bad.
'nuf said (and you said it brilliantly)!
You're quite welcome -- perspective is everything isn't it?!
The ephemera of gloom and doom is getting the better of you, friend. Don't lock yourself in the Prison of the Moment of Now and throw away the key.
Today is not tomorrow.
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