For The Democrats The Hits Just Keep On Coming
CNN has an interesting story regarding polls. And while it starts out making hay about the president's numbers, and how they could hurt the GOP's chances in the 2006 mid-terms, the blatant and most striking fact they bring up is that the Democrats are losing ground:
President Bush's continued unpopularity could present a challenge for Republican candidates in this fall's mid-term elections, according to a new CNN poll released Friday.
The poll results weren't all bad news for Bush. After his surprise visit to Baghdad, Americans were slightly less critical of his handling of the war in Iraq, but his overall job approval rating hasn't budged, the poll shows.
When registered voters polled were asked if they were more or less likely to vote for a candidate Bush supported, 47 percent said they were less likely, while only 27 percent said they were more likely. Twenty percent said it made no difference. The sampling error for the question was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
However, the poll showed that Democrats have so far not been able to capitalize on Bush's political difficulties.
When voters were asked which party would be their choice for Congress in November, 45 percent said Democrat and 38 percent Republican. Twelve percent were unsure. However, in May, Democrats captured 52 percent in the same generic ballot question, showing their support had dropped 7 points in a month.
The level of Republican support was unchanged, indicating voters had moved from the Democratic column to unsure.
In the poll, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday by Opinion Research Corp., the president's overall job approval rating was at 37 percent. In May, before his trip to Baghdad, it was virtually the same: 36 percent.
However, Bush's approval number has risen since late April, when it was just 32 percent. And there was some post-Baghdad movement when it came to the question of whether Americans approve of how he is handing the situation in Iraq.
And the outrage from America couldn't be any more evident than now after this week. Voters hammered Congress over the attempts by John Murtha and John Kerry to move the administration in the direction of withdrawal from Iraq. Whether the Democrats want to accept it or not, the war will be the focal point of this election. And I'm sorry to say, they keep showing weakness on it, and as long as they do that translates to dissatisfaction in the electorate. That is made plainly clear by the poll results.
And this is, perhaps, the worst news the Democrats could have been handed. At a time when they can barely gin up support for incumbents, and the support for new candidates isn't all that, the Democrats stand at the crossroads and don't seem to have a clue as to which direction they need to go. As I pointed out yesterday, Joe Lieberman could be mulling a run as an independent if he should lose the primary in Connecticut. The Democrats are slowly driving those sound and sane voices from their party. In the end such moves will drive those people straight into the waiting arms of the GOP.
Again, that isn't a proposition that is sitting well with many Democrats. As a matter of fact, the base is pretty ticked that only the extreme nutters are being heard int he party, or even listened to. It's been a long time since the Democrats have had candidates that they won't be embarrassed by. (And no, the popularity of Bill Clinton doesn't cover up ALL of the scandals during his presidency.) And as long as nuts like Kerry and Murtha keep striving for moves in this war that are clearly inept and completely stupid, the base will continue to show how unsure it is of the party they have supported. Sure, the Kossacks and other Lefties will be there in the end, but they represent a MINORITY view of the Democrat Party. They aren't the mom-and-pop types that make up the majority of the base. If those on the Left keep pushing good people like Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller out of the party, they'll relegate themselves to a third party status because the base will have deserted them.
Publius II
CNN has an interesting story regarding polls. And while it starts out making hay about the president's numbers, and how they could hurt the GOP's chances in the 2006 mid-terms, the blatant and most striking fact they bring up is that the Democrats are losing ground:
President Bush's continued unpopularity could present a challenge for Republican candidates in this fall's mid-term elections, according to a new CNN poll released Friday.
The poll results weren't all bad news for Bush. After his surprise visit to Baghdad, Americans were slightly less critical of his handling of the war in Iraq, but his overall job approval rating hasn't budged, the poll shows.
When registered voters polled were asked if they were more or less likely to vote for a candidate Bush supported, 47 percent said they were less likely, while only 27 percent said they were more likely. Twenty percent said it made no difference. The sampling error for the question was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
However, the poll showed that Democrats have so far not been able to capitalize on Bush's political difficulties.
When voters were asked which party would be their choice for Congress in November, 45 percent said Democrat and 38 percent Republican. Twelve percent were unsure. However, in May, Democrats captured 52 percent in the same generic ballot question, showing their support had dropped 7 points in a month.
The level of Republican support was unchanged, indicating voters had moved from the Democratic column to unsure.
In the poll, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday by Opinion Research Corp., the president's overall job approval rating was at 37 percent. In May, before his trip to Baghdad, it was virtually the same: 36 percent.
However, Bush's approval number has risen since late April, when it was just 32 percent. And there was some post-Baghdad movement when it came to the question of whether Americans approve of how he is handing the situation in Iraq.
And the outrage from America couldn't be any more evident than now after this week. Voters hammered Congress over the attempts by John Murtha and John Kerry to move the administration in the direction of withdrawal from Iraq. Whether the Democrats want to accept it or not, the war will be the focal point of this election. And I'm sorry to say, they keep showing weakness on it, and as long as they do that translates to dissatisfaction in the electorate. That is made plainly clear by the poll results.
And this is, perhaps, the worst news the Democrats could have been handed. At a time when they can barely gin up support for incumbents, and the support for new candidates isn't all that, the Democrats stand at the crossroads and don't seem to have a clue as to which direction they need to go. As I pointed out yesterday, Joe Lieberman could be mulling a run as an independent if he should lose the primary in Connecticut. The Democrats are slowly driving those sound and sane voices from their party. In the end such moves will drive those people straight into the waiting arms of the GOP.
Again, that isn't a proposition that is sitting well with many Democrats. As a matter of fact, the base is pretty ticked that only the extreme nutters are being heard int he party, or even listened to. It's been a long time since the Democrats have had candidates that they won't be embarrassed by. (And no, the popularity of Bill Clinton doesn't cover up ALL of the scandals during his presidency.) And as long as nuts like Kerry and Murtha keep striving for moves in this war that are clearly inept and completely stupid, the base will continue to show how unsure it is of the party they have supported. Sure, the Kossacks and other Lefties will be there in the end, but they represent a MINORITY view of the Democrat Party. They aren't the mom-and-pop types that make up the majority of the base. If those on the Left keep pushing good people like Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller out of the party, they'll relegate themselves to a third party status because the base will have deserted them.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 1:14 PM
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