Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Poor George
Boo hoo hoo, poor little George; his poll numbers are in the tank; and more than likely will remain there for the duration of his presidency.
In the latest Washington Post/ABC poll, a majority of Americans do not approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president.
This is becoming a regular media non-event.
With the high cost of gasoline, rise in poverty, whack-a-mole insurgencies, Iraqi constitutional unrest, growing war movement, and just about everything that could go wrong, including acts of God by way of Hurricane Katrina, our Commander in Chief is in deep hot water.
The Post reports that 60 percent of poll respondents believe the administration could do something to alleviate the high cost of fuel, if only they wanted to. Recent colossal earnings by oil, oil services and energy companies probably have more than a tad to do with this sentiment.
Why the president is even getting heat from the right. Bush’s immigration policy has created the call for Bush's impeachment by conservative pundit Patrick Buchanan for his failure to secure our national borders.
The news story warns the mood of the country does not favor incumbents. But Republicans, who control both the House and the Senate, have more to lose; and with Roberts' nomination, the public will surely attach blame to the party who controls all three branches of government.
Contrary to characterization by the Post, public ire at feckless Democratic opposition is also a good thing for their party.
When more than half the country is dissatisfied with mere “tepid opposition” from Democratic officials to Bush’s agenda, an opening to get tough with Bush's priorities, including harsh and thorough questioning of Judge John Roberts during his upcoming Supreme Court nomination hearings, will only enhance their future political prospects.
Let them howl and call Democrats obstructionists; the citizenry seems to finally have woken up from their self-imposed slumber; and is now demanding truth in governance.
Let’s face it, Bush's brand is tattered by hubris and lies. He has a credibility problem.
For starters, no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq, nor were any Iraqi ties to al-Qaeda discovered. A CIA operative was outed; and as it turned out, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan ‘misspoke’ when he said Rove had nothing to do with the matter.
The rosy economic prognostications never materialized, in spite of huge tax cuts for the wealthy that added billions to the country’s deficit. The war in Iraq is an unholy mess. At every turn, the administration has miscalculated and come out on the short end of the fuse.
Add rising living and health care costs to Bush’s failed attempt to convince Americans to accept his version of how to fix Social Security, a scheme that became increasingly unattractive as the public learned more of the details, and you have a prescription for not just skepticism, but unadulterated distrust.
People may have fond memories of jolly bar hopping from earlier days in the Bush administration, but they no longer trust him to pay his share of the tab.
Like the guy in the bar stool who buys a round, skips the bill, and then makes excuses the next time you meet, people are leery and weary of the president’s ever-changing rationale for why things have not gone as he said they would and the wine has turned to vinegar.
One word of caution to Democrats, though. People may opt to sit out the next round of festivities. So enough people must be persuaded that Democrats can bring fun times back; or at least stop the wretched incessant pain.
In the latest Washington Post/ABC poll, a majority of Americans do not approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president.
This is becoming a regular media non-event.
With the high cost of gasoline, rise in poverty, whack-a-mole insurgencies, Iraqi constitutional unrest, growing war movement, and just about everything that could go wrong, including acts of God by way of Hurricane Katrina, our Commander in Chief is in deep hot water.
The Post reports that 60 percent of poll respondents believe the administration could do something to alleviate the high cost of fuel, if only they wanted to. Recent colossal earnings by oil, oil services and energy companies probably have more than a tad to do with this sentiment.
Why the president is even getting heat from the right. Bush’s immigration policy has created the call for Bush's impeachment by conservative pundit Patrick Buchanan for his failure to secure our national borders.
The news story warns the mood of the country does not favor incumbents. But Republicans, who control both the House and the Senate, have more to lose; and with Roberts' nomination, the public will surely attach blame to the party who controls all three branches of government.
Contrary to characterization by the Post, public ire at feckless Democratic opposition is also a good thing for their party.
When more than half the country is dissatisfied with mere “tepid opposition” from Democratic officials to Bush’s agenda, an opening to get tough with Bush's priorities, including harsh and thorough questioning of Judge John Roberts during his upcoming Supreme Court nomination hearings, will only enhance their future political prospects.
Let them howl and call Democrats obstructionists; the citizenry seems to finally have woken up from their self-imposed slumber; and is now demanding truth in governance.
Let’s face it, Bush's brand is tattered by hubris and lies. He has a credibility problem.
For starters, no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq, nor were any Iraqi ties to al-Qaeda discovered. A CIA operative was outed; and as it turned out, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan ‘misspoke’ when he said Rove had nothing to do with the matter.
The rosy economic prognostications never materialized, in spite of huge tax cuts for the wealthy that added billions to the country’s deficit. The war in Iraq is an unholy mess. At every turn, the administration has miscalculated and come out on the short end of the fuse.
Add rising living and health care costs to Bush’s failed attempt to convince Americans to accept his version of how to fix Social Security, a scheme that became increasingly unattractive as the public learned more of the details, and you have a prescription for not just skepticism, but unadulterated distrust.
People may have fond memories of jolly bar hopping from earlier days in the Bush administration, but they no longer trust him to pay his share of the tab.
Like the guy in the bar stool who buys a round, skips the bill, and then makes excuses the next time you meet, people are leery and weary of the president’s ever-changing rationale for why things have not gone as he said they would and the wine has turned to vinegar.
One word of caution to Democrats, though. People may opt to sit out the next round of festivities. So enough people must be persuaded that Democrats can bring fun times back; or at least stop the wretched incessant pain.
// posted by Howling Latina @ 11:46 PM 
