Wednesday, September 27, 2006
A Minority Thinks Bush Won in '04 "Fair and Square"
A mid-August Zogby poll asked 1018 likely voters how confident they were that George Bush "really won the 2004 election." Only 45.2 percent said they were very confident; 20 percent said they were somewhat confident, 32.4 percent said they were not at all confident and 2.4 percent said they were not sure.
Hmmm, not exactly a ringing endorsement for democracy; As Scoop points out, "Webster’s defines 'somewhat' as follows: '…in some degree or measure: SLIGHTLY.'" When you add "somewhat confident" likely voters to "not at all confident" likely voters, the "results are a clear vote of no confidence."
Fifty-nine percent of Democrats, 34 percent of Independents and 5 percent of Republicans said they had absolutely no confidence. Broken down by race, 54 percent of Asians and 71 percent of blacks also "lack confidence in the president's legitimacy to rule. "
Even a substantial number of NASCAR fans, born-again Christians, military members and rural voters doubt Bush really won with 28 percent of NASCAR fans, 25 percent of born-again Christians, 32 percent of members in the military and 28 percent of rural voters saying they had no confidence.
A whopping 44 percent in the East had no confidence; and a surprising 30 percent the South and 35 percent in the West also had no confidence.
Of the 45 percent who had no doubt Bush won "fair and square," 15 percent are Democrats, 80 percent are Republicans and 39 percent are Independents. " Dividing respondents by race, 39 percent of Asians, 51 percent of Whites, 38 percent of Latinos and a measly 9 percent of blacks are absolutely certain Bush really won.
Confident born-again Christians lead the poll with 58 percent; however, only 46 percent of voters in the South, 42 percent in the West and 32 percent in the East share that confidence.
As Scoop points out, "All of these figures in the low fifties [and forties] indicate that even among core constituencies, there are barely a majority of voters with a high degree of confidence that the election was legitimate."
The “in betweens” show less difference than the “very confident” and the “not confident at all” responders among the various subgroups polled.For example, 24 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of Independents are "somewhat confident" and the difference by region varies only slightly. Fifteen percent of born-again Christians are "somewhat confident" and 19 percent of non sectarian are also slightly confident.
Scoop correctly observses:
Howling Latina is just glad that Virginia has a Democratic governor to look over the shoulders of democracy and voting results; and she hopes that voting in Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states is so lopsided in favor of Democrats that GOPers won't be able to steal the elections.There won’t be much discussion of this Zogby poll by corporate media reporters and pundits. If it occurs, it might go something like this: “Most Americans confident in 2004 Election;” “Bush Still Solid with the People;” “Core Groups Support Outcome of 2004 Election.” Of course, none of those headlines will appear. For one or a multitude of reasons, the American corporate media has studiously ignored any controversy concerning election 2004. To discuss questions of legitimacy in public would entail raising the question of a stolen election. It won’t happen but it should.
If we assume that this data is actually discussed by the corporate media, a dismissal strategy is available. The headlines would read: “Doubt in Legitimacy of 2004 Presidential Election Based on Attitude toward Bush Performance” or, for certain news organizations, “Complainers Doubt 2004 Outcome.” Those who think the country is headed in the right direction comprise 79 [percent] of those who are very confident in 2004 results. They comprise only 8 [percent] of the “not confident at all” group. Those who think the country is headed in the wrong direction represent 26 [percent] of the very confident responders and 47 [percent] of the not confident at all group.
Bush won, the first President since 1988 to win a majority of the popular vote. Get over it.
Amazing what folks will BELIEVE!
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