Posted on 11/04/2005 4:56:53 AM PST by JustaCowgirl
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's job approval has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency amid worries over the Iraq war, a fumbled Supreme Court nomination, the indictment of one White House aide and uncertainty about another.
Concerned that the president has lost his footing, some influential Republicans are urging Bush to shake up his staff and bring in new blood.
A new AP-Ipsos poll found Bush's approval rating was at 37 percent, compared with 39 percent a month ago. About 59 percent of those surveyed said they disapproved.
The intensity of disapproval is the strongest to date, with 42 percent now saying they "strongly disapprove" of how Bush is handling his job -- twice as many as the 20 percent who said they "strongly approve."
A year after his re-election, Bush's second term has been marred by rising U.S. casualties in Iraq, a failed attempt to restructure Social Security, Hurricane Katrina missteps, rising fuel costs and the forced withdrawal of the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers.
In a case involving the exposure of a CIA agent married to an Iraq war critic, Vice President Dick Cheney's former aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, pleaded not guilty on Thursday in federal court to charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and lying to investigators. The case casts a continuing cloud over Cheney and keeps Bush's closest adviser, Karl Rove, in legal jeopardy.
Republicans are worrying about losing their majorities in Congress in the 2006 elections and hope Bush can reverse his slide.
Several senior Republicans who are close to the White House and Rove say there has been a lot of talk inside and outside the White House about the need for him to leave, but they're picking up no indication from him or his associates that it's going to happen -- at least anytime soon.
Neither Bush nor Rove has seemed to get the message, the Republicans say.
Democrats have kept up the attack. "The 2006 midterm elections will be our next opportunity to change the environment of corruption and incompetence in Washington," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday in a fundraising letter to Democrats. Reid has called for Rove's resignation and a "thorough house cleaning" at the White House.
In the AP-Ipsos poll, nearly one in five Republicans disapproved of Bush's handling of his job, compared with nearly nine in 10 Democrats. Nearly seven in 10 independents disapproved.
The poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 31-Nov. 2 among 1,006 adults nationwide. The margin on sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
In December 2004, soon after Bush's re-election, 51 percent approved of his handling of his job, while 47 disapproved, and 28 disapproved strongly.
Gotta love this anonymous quote from 'several senior Republicans:'
"Several senior Republicans who are close to the White House and Rove say there has been a lot of talk inside and outside the White House about the need for him to leave, but they're picking up no indication from him or his associates that it's going to happen -- at least anytime soon."
but when he makes a comeback, it will be the biggest in history too
The MSM still hasn't gotten out of their campaign mode.
IP on AP.
CAUGHT IN A LIE .. YET ANOTHER FAKE POLL.
<< the forced withdrawal of the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers >>
I thought she voluntarily withdrew. Guess I need to follow the mainstream media more in order to be fully indoctrinated.
This is the MSM fanning the flames of it's own fire.
How about a poll on whether MSM journalism is a myth or a reality.
The polls have become the news for the MSM. What they fail to mention is how the polls are skewed with more Democrats polled vs. Republicans.
I look for the day when Republicans are no longer polled at all and the disapproval ratings fall to 90%. These idiotic pollsters would do as well to get their results from the CNN/MSNBC on-line polls which are "always" balanced.
. ..oh. . .didn't you know. . .OF COURSE she was forced out. . .sarcasm>off. . .
Oh wait, they did that.
Iraq is a prime example. My best estimate on Iraq is that it's a dangerous place, but nothing is going on there that threatens our forces or the democracy we are setting up. Yet I hear even conservative commentators saying Bush's approval is low because "the war in Iraq isn't going well." That's what happens when you hunker down and don't answer your critics.
Got an earful of this just yesterday while waiting in a crowded medical office. CNN was blaring away, and the group assembled there was cheering on the propaganda.
Begin to bring the troops home from Iraq, and this will change. The work there is just about done. The Iraqis should be carrying the bulk of the burden at this point.
Bad idea.
Iran and Syria can't wait for that day to come. We are in Iraq for the long haul.
I talked to my old liberal friend yesterday, and she said she's glued to the news because "it's going to be another Watergate." Plus, she's shocked about the torture.
Let's hope dems don't win back the house because they'll go for impeachment.
Good- maybe this will make Bush realize the only approval he has a chance at getting is from his base. Then maybe he can start acting like a conservative- stopping illegal immigration, cutting spending, etc. A guy can dream anyway.
Recently I heard that there are now 350,000 Iraqi soldiers, USA made them self reliant, I support our troops they did a fantastic job there (and still are) they make us all proud,
so now they should be able to begin to return to their families. Not to mention the amount that would be cut from the budget to help to lower the deficit.
But we trust our Military to decide when our troops can return. Meanwhile we pray for them daily!
Sure, but we don't need to be patroling their streets. Put a base on the Iranian border to keep an eye on Tehran, and let the Iraqis fight the street war.
IPSOS means lie in some language somewhere.
No way, that will just be spun as "due to dropping poll numbers Bush was forced to admit..."the war was flawed, based on false premises...blah, blah, blah...." There's lots revisionist history already going on... premature withdrawal would make a royal mess of things, just adding more arguments for "it's not worth it", "it's too hard", "we had no business" blah, blah. What's important to remember, is... it's not just about Iraq. Iraq is only one battlefied.
I agree with you. I don't think Scott Mclellan, WH Press Secretary, is doing a good job. Like Miers, he's Bush crowd from Texas, and the president isn't going to fire him.
Scott, please help your beloved president, and pull a Miers, will you?
One might give some thought to why a physician would allow CNN to play in the waiting room....
Is this the 1st impression that this supposedly learned professional wishes to project? If so, run like a scalded dog and for goodness sakes....no injections!
I've also seen CNN in waiting rooms.
Only Bush's numbers make the news. Congress (the real problem with America) low numbers never make it.
But the exit polls say kerry is the president,what does this poll say?
YAWN...
Moreover I can guarantee for you that those 12% of the so called independents are mostly from drak blue counties.
I don't think it's premature. This battle is going to go on for another 20 years pretty much like it is now. Let the Iraqis fight it. They are ready. We'll just give them technical assistance, and man the border outposts to keep an eye on Tehran.
My trusted Doc of almost 40 years....has only 3-10 year-old magazines in his waiting room....and the great news is, there is rarely any waiting!
Your old firend is a political idiot.
That's what I thought too, but Bush is pushing the illegal invasion even harder. Wonder who the hell he's listening to because it's not his base.
Is there a record of Clinton's poll numbers at this point in his presidency? How does Bush's numbers compare? Heard this poll alert this morning on the radio. Just was curious, because I thought last week that Bush's ratings were still higher than Clinton's at this point in their presidency terms.
"Begin to bring the troops home from Iraq, and this will change. The work there is just about done. The Iraqis should be carrying the bulk of the burden at this point."
No Way that is a good idea and no way this will make a lasting poll difference. I say let's say we are bringing them home, but don't. See what happens
Iraq is no where near us pulling out or even some out. I say 20 years and we will see a difference -- I am low balling it.
As for Bush, his importance may not be known for another 30 years. By then everyone will have no choice but to see he was/is one of the most influential men our country has had the good fortune to have in office.
The leftist America hating media has turned it's attention to getting Cheney.
If the people who made of this poll were representative of the voting population, Democrats would win every election by a landslide.
Polls of adults are worthless. The only valid polls are the ones of likely voters with the following breakup: 35% R, 35% D, 30% I. Also the 30% of independents should be equally divided between Red counties and Blue counties and not overwhelmingly picked from blue counties as the liberal media do because a lot of bias in the polls occurs with the selection of independents. Once you get me a poll like this then I will consider it as serious.
I got no problem with letting the Iraqis take over as soon as possible and I agree they very much ARE getting more capable. I also agree with your suggestions about watching the borders especially Tehran and I'd add Damascus there too. However, we need to be careful about the "bring them home" mantra. I expect troops will be on the move around the globe for quite some time. However, if you are talking about a public relations push that shows troops "coming home", I'd agree that would probably calm some of the chattering classes who really don't care or even know what countries we have troops in.
I'm not saying we should do it for PR reasons. They just aren't needed as much there as they were. If we begin the handover to the Iraqis, we won't need as many there. And if we do pull some of them out (as we should), then the polls will go up. That's just the reality.
No, it's not a reality - it's a hope. The polls are controlled by the media and I wouldn't get your hopes up. Instead, I'd worry less about polls and more about what is in the best interests of the country.
What do you expect from a president who said "I accept full blame for Hurricane Katrina . . ." and "Miers was the best choice available."
Nice guys finish last.
Steps Bush could take to get his approval rating back to 54%.
1] Announce that the "$35 billion cut was a sham" and demand $200 billion in cuts for starters.
2] Retract the $15 billion to Africa.
3] Announce the USA is in danger from terrorists entering from the south border (and north border) and put the US Army on the border.
4] Announce the USA is in danger from welfare seeking illegal aliens entering from the south border (and north border) and put double the size of the US Army on the border announced in #3 above.
5] Demand Congress end automatic citizenship for babies born to illegal aliens.
6] Eject the 15 million illegal aliens living in the USA.
7] Void the citizenship to the babies born to illegal aliens in the last ten years.
Before we even get to items number 8 through 100, Bush's approval rating would be right back at post-election 54% by the time item #7 was read from the teleprompter.
Paul Harvey reporting on 1040 WWBA said that President Bush is down in the polls - but 4 out of 5 Republicans still are behind him!!
Are you sure?
Gee, when day after day after day after day after day the MSM does nothing but spread FUD, how could the majority of citizens that don't seek out alternative information sources NOT think the President isn't doing a good job?
I would not say it's a hope. I could care less what the polls say. But I predict they go up, if troops start to come home. And at this juncture, it is in the best interests of the country to begin the turnover of the street war in Iraq to the Iraqi army. Their internal war is not our problem, nor is it in our best interests to get involved in a war between the Sunnis and the Shiites.
I don't think they could. It feels kind of helpless when you know there's this avalanche of propoganda coming from the MSM, and that most people believe it, or at least some of it.
Apparently it does. I have wondered that myself. Instead of taking a lesson from Fox News, what they do is try to silence them. Amazing. If, God forbid, Hillary ever gets elected, I think you will see Fox and the conservative talk shows hounded into oblivion.
Aw Geez, Not These Crappy Polls Again. Alright, Once More Into The Breach
Posted by bulldogpundit on Friday, 04 November 2005 (00:27:40) EST
Contributed by bulldogpundit
The MSM is positively orgasmic over 3 new polls - yes, 3, showing President Bush's approval numbers in the crapper. Gee, do you think that is the reason Reid decided to pull his little stunt this week, and the rest of the lefties got beer muscles and decided to throw sand in the President's eye?
But once again, it is up to us here at ABP to show you why these polls are utterly meaningless when it comes to predicting what voters will do come 2006.
Click READ MORE to continue.
First, the 3 doom and gloom polls.
From The Washington Post: Approve-38% Disapprove-60%
From AP/Ipsos: Approve-37% Disapprove-58%
From CBS News: Approve-35% Disapprove-57%
We're going to forego the usual factors of weekend polling, age and income level of respondents, etc., and just go to party ID of respondents, after telling you that the polls are of "adults", not even "registered voters" or even "likely voters".
Let's just remind you that in 2004 the exit polls showed the party ID of voters at 37% Republicans and Democrats
So, let's get to the numbers shall we.
Party ID of The Washington Post poll respondents: Independent-38% Democrat-31% Republican-27% (Lean- Democrat 52% Republican-41% Independent-6%)
Party ID of AP/Ipsos poll respondents: Democrat-49% Republican-40% Independent 9%
Party ID of CBS News poll respondents (weighted): Independent-41% Democrat-35% Republican-24%
Ok folks, does anything more really need to be said?
UPDATE: Tom Elia of The New Editor shows this kind of imbalance in polls has been going on since July.
http://www.anklebitingpundits.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2597
The polls would only go up with the necessary PR. Which is what I said in a previous post. But I agree, I don't care if they have a civil war - somethimes they are necessary. I do care if a civil war is started by international islamofascists in order to take back what they lost and so should you.
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