Posted on 03/15/2002 3:11:02 AM PST by JohnHuang2
FOXNEWS/OPINION DYNAMICS POLL:Bush Job Performance: 80% approve, 12% Disapprove
Poll Question: "Do you feel as safe today, less safe, or safer than before 9/11?"
Less safe today: 35%
As safe as before: 42%
Safer than before: 18%Support U.S. Military Action
even if:
Soldiers lost: 78% yes, 10% no.
Lengthy war: 70% yes, 18% no.
Civilian casualties (here in U.S.): 59% Yes, 22% no.Senate Debate over Judge Pickering Nomination is based more on:
Politics: 48%
Principle: 14%
Mix: 5%Conducted March 12-13, 2002
Registered voters +/-3% margin of error======================================
President's Popularity remains stratospheric, defying all 'conventional wisdom'
President Bush continues to benefit from astronomical levels of sustained public support and the War on Terror remains enormously popular despite news of U.S. battlefield casualties in Afghanistan, according to a FOXNEWS/Opinion Dynamic poll published yesterday.
The poll shows the President's job approval rating continues to defy gravity at a dizzying 80%, up slightly (3 percentage points) from their previous survey. Only 12% disapprove.
For Democrats, the President's phenomenal popularity is a growing source of consternation as midterm elections loom menacingly over the horizon. Particularly worrisome for Democrat strategists is the public's steely resolve in winning the War on Terror, a resolve undeterred even by fresh reports of U.S. military casualties in the five-month-old war in Afghanistan.
Led by hardline Senate leader Tom Daschle, Democrats in recents weeks had orchestrated a campaign to undermine public support for the war in the hopes of softening up Bush's stubborn popularity. Democrats believed that by publically breaking with the President over the war his polls would tumble. To drive a wedge between the President and the public, Democrats sought to arouse distrust in Bush as Commander-in-Chief -- even planting doubt over the war's ultimate success.
The effort began with Sen. Daschle openly quibling with the President's 'axis of evil' "rhetoric" in his State of the Union Address, despite having warmly praised the speech only days earlier. Daschle harshly criticized the President for including Iran and North Korea in his axis, ignoring intelligence reports that both nations are actively developing weapons of mass destruction.
Rather than scoring political points at the President's expense, Daschle's carping sparked a public backlash instead. Stung by the criticism, Daschle was forced, days later, into a humiliating retraction.
But then came Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, lashing out at the White House over burgeoning military spending and the war's open-ended commitment. His partisan criticism seemed to echo Sen. Kent Conrad's complaints, aired the same week.
The media happily piled on. The Washington Post accused the President of setting up a sinister, X-Files-like "shadow" government, hidden in some secret, Area-51-like underground site -- all allegedly without Congressional notification, let alone approval. Democrats went ballistic. Chris Matthews went ballistic. The New York Times went ballistic.
But there was more.
The Los Angeles Times upped the ante last Saturday, implying the Bush administration was hell-bent on waging nuclear war -- against 7 nations, no less, Russia included. A highly classified report, the Nuclear Posture Review, had been leaked to well-known anti-nuke activist, William Arkin. Democrats went ballistic. Chris Matthews went ballistic. The New York Times went ballistic. Never mind that the NPR study was launched at Congress's request. Its purpose was to determine whether Bush's decision to slash deployed nukes by 2/3rds over the next ten years could safely be implemented.
The report was affirmative. Yep, that's what all the brouhaha and hyperbole was about.
As for the Post's secret "shadow government", we later learned that Daschle himself was whisked to the site during the September 11 attacks, and Congressional leaders in the line of succession were thoroughly briefed.
Small wonder Democrats have failed to make even the slightest headway against the President
Moreover, President Bush earns very high marks on homeland security, despite a steady drumbeat of Democrat/Media criticism, according to this new survey. A whopping six in ten Americans say they feel as safe or safer than they did prior to 9/11.
These results defy conventional wisdom in Washington, which saw in domestic security issues an opening for Democrats.
Party strategists hoping that public support for the war would crumble in the face of casualties will be disappointed. Eight in ten Americans say they would continue to back the war regardless of casualties, and 70% would support a lengthy war.
In short, Democrats are in trouble.
They're also their own worst enemy. The Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee jettisoned the Pickering nomination yesterday on a 10-9 party-line vote, fueling criticism that Democrats are captives of left-wing special interest groups. The vicious, dirty, lowdown, scorched-earth smear campaign waged against Judge Pickering, who was nominated for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, may have gotten the left their pound of flesh, but only at a huge political cost.
Respondents were asked if they thought the Senate debate over Judge Pickering's nomination was primarily based on politics or principle. Politics won out overwhelmingly, 48% - 14%.
The FOXNEWS/Opinion Dynamics poll was based on a randomly selected sample of 900 registered voters conducted through March 12-13. The survey's margin of error is +/- 3%.
My two cents...
"JohnHuang2"
Dead leader walking.
The Demo-dimwits have probably damaged the judicial selection process into the forseeable future. Looks like the Repubs will control both houses and will be able to select whomever they want for as long as they stay the majority, but I'm guessing, whenever the senate is different than the White House the party-line rejection will be the norm.
His days as 'plurarity leader' are numbered.
The way Judge Pickering was treated was beyond despicable -- it was a travesty.
High praise from you, my FRiend. Thanks.
Near as I can tell, they are few and far in between.
These polls are becoming pure propaganda.
However, Daschole continues to dominate the news with his Bush-bashing.
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