[Vision2020] Not that I always have to be right or anything

[Joan Opyr]

Dear Visionaries:

In a post last week, I said that George W. Bush's pre-Katrina poll ratings were at 38%.  My friend, Dave Budge, suggested that I needed to check my poll data.  In a private email to him (one that I managed not to accidentally forward to this list), I said that I got my polling information from the American Research Group, and that Bush's 38% was a rough average of his scores on the economy, the gas crunch, the war in Iraq, and a host of other issues.  I stick by that figure.

Now, here are a few more figures for my fellow polling junkies to consider.  (If you're not a poll junkie, please delete.)  From Salon.com's War Room, posted by Farhad Manjoo:

"The nation takes to the blame game.

Throughout the week, White House spokesman Scott McClellan assured the nation that it was only Democrats and troublemakers in the elite news media who delighted in playing that long-lost American sport known as the blame game. Every other American wasn't inclined to point fingers, he said, because we all know that kvetching about whether the federal government might have saved lives or eased suffering by doing more than it did, faster and more competently than it did -- well, Americans are better than that. We're not a nation of glum, hard-to-please, sad-faced, finger-pointing blame-gamers. 

The thing is, though, it turns out we are! A slate of new polls released in the last couple days shows that when something goes catastrophically wrong, Americans, like people everywhere else, apparently want to hold someone accountable for the mistakes. In other words, the blame game has caught on. What's more, the White House is losing. 

A poll by the Pew Research Center shows that 67 percent of Americans believe George W. Bush "could have done more" to aid hurricane victims. The picture is roughly the same in other surveys: A Zogby poll shows 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush's hurricane response, CBS has 58 percent disapproval, Associated Press-Ipsos finds 52 percent, and Newsweek says that 40 percent of Americans think the federal government's hurricane response was "poor," while 32 percent say it was "fair." When SurveyUSA asked Americans to rate Bush's hurricane response on a scale of 1 to 10 --1 being a miserable failure, 10 being awesome -- 34 percent gave him a 1. More than half rated him a 5 or less. (But 24 percent of respondents -- call them blame-game-player-haters -- gave him a 9 or 10.) 

All these polls show that Bush's poor hurricane response has damaged his overall approval rating. In some polls, Bush's unpopularity is breathtaking: Newsweek shows just 38 percent approve of the job he's doing. The poll also shows that what was once seen as Bush's greatest strength -- his capacity to convince Americans that only he could keep us out of danger -- has fizzled. The magazine reports that 52 percent of Americans "say they do not trust the president 'to make the right decisions during a domestic crisis' (45 percent do). The numbers are exactly the same when the subject is trust of the president to make the right decisions during an international crisis." 

We could go on and on with the bad ratings -- we could tell you about the staggeringly high number of Americans who believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction, or who disapprove of everything from Bush's handling of gas prices to the war in Iraq.... But maybe that's enough blame-gaming for one Saturday afternoon. 

-- Farhad Manjoo

Permalink [16:37 EDT, September 10, 2005]" 

Pat wondered how low poll numbers could possibly hurt Bush, as he can't run for the presidency again.  (Wow.  I just felt the strongest urge to drop to my knees and thank God Almighty.  Hmm.)  Anyhow, the answer is that low polls will make it difficult for Bush to continue to push the more radical elements of his agenda.  More tax cuts.  Controversial judicial nominations.  The administration's continued failure to adequately fund, support and/or restructure those agencies responsible for emergency disaster relief.  Already, the nation looks ahead to the mid-term elections of 2006 and the presidential race in 2008.  

Ever heard of a lame duck, Pat?  Bush's poll numbers suggest lame duck a l'orange.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.auntie-establishment.com

PS: I'm not in the habit (I hope) of hyping my New West work here on 2020, but I would like to draw your attention to a piece I posted today.  An odd thing happened on Thursday afternoon, when I flew from the Moscow-Pullman Airport to Sea-Tac.  The fellow behind me in the security line had a fully-loaded automatic pistol clip in his carry-on.  No pistol; just the clip.  What ensued was very interesting, and something, perhaps, to ponder on this sad anniversary.  If you're interested in reading more, go to http://www.newwest.net and follow the Northern Idaho link.  The piece, which is rather wide-ranging, is called "Rich Man, Poor Woman or Of Thrift Stores, Airports, and Pistol Clips." 

Also, Nick Gier has an excellent piece up on American anti-intellectualism that I encourage you all to read.  It's posted in New West's Citizen Journalist section.  Much to think about on this rainy day -- well, it's rainy in Olympia.  Perhaps it's bathing suit weather in Moscow.