ARG POll: Bush Approval 34%

[Mark E. Smith]

George W. Bush's disapproval ratings are at the highest of his presidency. High gasoline prices are impacting ratings of the economy and are helping to drive up Bush's disapproval ratings.

Bush Job Approval Ratings
Overall: 34% Approve 60% Disapprove Undecided 6%
Economy: 31% Approve 64% Disapprove Undecided 5%

http://americanresearchgroup.com/

[DanCa]

1. 34 is still too damn high

Damn that must be some serious Kool Aid that the faithful are drinking. Is there anyway that we can get them to drink it on a stretch of a highway somewhere while lacing it with razor blades?

[UpInArms]

5. here's an example of how tasty that kool-aid is:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0604230398apr23,1,4501446,print.story?coll=chi-news-hed

For all of the polarization that permeates political discourse, the public dissatisfaction here has a bipartisan stamp only days away from a primary election. In the staunchly Republican community of London, about 25 miles west of Columbus, Melinda Conley still supports President Bush and calls herself a "die-hard Republican."

But Conley, an interior designer and gift shop owner on Main Street, quickly says that she has done a lot of dying lately, a point driven home last week when she spent $100 on gas for her Ford Excursion--and that didn't fill the tank. She has no retirement plan. And business is tough.

"I keep telling myself that these guys know what they're doing, but is it going to get any better? I don't know that it is," Conley said. "Why is it harder and harder and harder just to live?"

[Doctor_J]

10. It's Clinton's fault!

hasn't she been listening to hate radio?

What a maroon.

[CJCRANE]

11. Right now

I'm imagining * as Bluto (John Belushi) in Animal House saying "You f*cked up! You trusted us!"
(In the scene after they've trashed his buddy's uncle's car).

[ixion]

20. hmmm... Otter said this to Flounder...not Belushi

just sayin'. :shrug:

google it. :hi:

[CJCRANE]

22. I think you're right...

Maybe I shouldn't have listened to Bluto when he "My advice to you is to start drinking heavily".

[ixion]

24. lol

:rofl: no problem :hi:

[Sapere aude]

15. I hear those types calling KGO at night and it is amazing how in denial

they are. I work with a woman who blames the Dems for all these problems. When I tell her that Dems are not in power it doesn't even register.

[LetsGoMurphys]

25. I don't have any sympathy for you

in fact I blame people like you for ruining our country. Fuck your Ford Excursion. Keep voting against your own interests. No retirement plan? Good thing those good-for-nothing democrats saved Social Security huh?

[hadrons]

33. Melinda Conley, you are a moran

say hi to your hubby

[trogdor]

38. Ford Excursion drivers do not deserve sympathy.

They got us in this mess, and claim WE'RE unpatriotic because we don't wave the flag, watch Fox News, and say baaaaaaa. The only reason Ford made these monstrosities is so they can claim to have the biggest, heaviest SUV on the market, and people like this bitch fall for it and then cry because gas goes up to three bucks a gallon. Fuck them.

[davekriss]

39. I personally think it's a sad indictment of the...

...American character, 34%. I mean, the ugly spectrum from Incompetence through LIHOP/MIHOP on 9-11, two trillion in tax cuts mostly for the top 1% while talking about the "only paper" Special Treasury Bonds of the Social Security Trust Fund, the PATRIOT act, blatantly lying us into Iraq, outing Valerie Plame, offshoring away our jobs, insourcing away more jobs (H1B and L1 visas to illegal immigration) -- all these things (and any of us can go on for pages) but it is only when gas prices rise that Bush's popularity falls far below 50%.

I don't mean anyone here, as here Bush has had a "favorable" rating somewhere between 0.01% and 0.1% (discounting the occassional troll). But that fungible 10-15% of Americans that change their mind only when they feel it at the pump, what moral idiots!

[Oak2004]

41. It's a sadder indictment of the availability of information

Americans are not suicidal, i.e., they will not knowingly vote to make their lives hell. Nor are "they" (we) any more or less stupid than any other group of people (including the people who frequent this board).

In fact one of the most fundamental assumptions of democracy is that people, given good information, will choose good solutions. Reject this, and you reject the foundation of our political system. The catch here is getting good information to people in spite of poor civic education, corporate media, extremist propaganda, and the natural failings of the human mind. That's where this all breaks down.

People don't know about their government and how it works. They believe that power in America belongs to the wealthy, not to the citizen, and so don't even bother to learn how to educate themselves about the issues or how they themselves can influence the course of government (and there is a kernel of truth here, it's just exaggerated to the point of defeatism). Without this foundation knowledge, which in a democracy should be considered more important to impart to children than even the ability to read and write, people don't know how to look at news, or even to recognize when they are not getting meaningful news. If you don't know you're getting snowed, you won't pull out your snowshovel (replace "snow" with a more pungent analogy if you prefer).

And of course people who do not dig very hard for the truth right now are not getting good news. They are getting a combination of entertainment fluff passed off as news, and propaganda.

What is interesting is that people are not having their values influenced by the snowjob. When polled on values and issues of importance to them, Americans remain solidly liberal. But when asked to describe where they stand politically, they recite the hard right language they've heard over and over again, and many vote for the names they have been told are consistent with the language they have learned.

So, no, these are not stupid people. These are not self-destructive people. These are not people who can't be trusted to govern a nation. These are maleducated, defeated, brainwashed people. They are demonstrating behaviors that, too, are natural to humans: the desire to belong to a group, a desire to explain their world, the need for status, the various coping behaviors associated with feelings of helplessness, the behaviors associated with cognitive dissonance, etc. They are no more or less irrational than we here are..

Sociologists already know why we are here, and not over with the Freeps, uncomfortably pondering whether to leave the board. For the vast majority of us it is not our brilliance, or our wisdom, or our thoughtfulness. It's what family we were born into, what we were exposed to in our formative years, and whether there were any influential traumatic events later in our lives. In short, like wealth, it ain't (usually) anything we've earned of our own accord.

Of course this kind of confusion can't be sustained in a population indefinitely. What happens, eventually, is that people see, right there in their own lives, that the actions of the leaders they have followed have been diametrically opposed to their own best interests. Reality, sooner or later, trumps fiction. That's what is happening right now in America. People are questioning why what they have been told was good and true appears to be neither. Some people are further along in the questioning than others. Some have had their eyes open wide while others are fighting, desperately, to hang onto the words they have invested so much in.

But do not ever confuse this desperate defensiveness as failure to question. It is desperate and defensive precisely because it is fighting off the intrusions of doubt. Please, if your views are your views, and are not merely a contrary doctrine of words you adhire to, don't confront these people in ways that let them harden their views and put up their blinders. Instead, gently feed their doubts. Remember that in a democracy the confusion and ignorance and exploitation of one person harms everyone. Lurking under the pain of every SUV owner at the gas station who is beginning to understand that he or she has been exploited is the suffering of tens and hundreds and thousands of poor people without heat or transportation, or recovering from the wounds they got in an oil war, who also know they're being exploited. We need to war against ignorance and exploitation in all its forms. And vengeance is not a motive upon which one can build a just society.

I really encourage anyone who is concerned with changing minds and changing policies to do some reading about the science behind the formation of beliefs and how beliefs change. Part of what turned the extreme right from a fringe group into the power group is that they did their research and shaped their propaganda accordingly. We need to know what they know about the human mind, both to counteract them, and to use the same knowledge more benignly to pursuade and educate.

[davekriss]

45. Thank you for your thoughtful post

I don't disagree with you much. I've often said that Aristotle was right, all men seek the good. The problem lies in our varied and conflicted definitions of "the good". You'll find the basis for war, mayhem, hoarding, and greed in that very conflict. So it would appear if we could only all get on the same page of enlightened "good" all would be well, right?

Who's "good"? The Dominionist and Christian Reconstructionist who desire to usher in a theonomic state that violently enforces their absolutist notion? Or the Strassian neo-con who believes elites have the right to rule because, as "elites", they are inherently "better" than everyone else? Or the Calvinist who believes the rich are rich due to God's favor and the poor are poor due to their personal iniquity? Or the businessman that believes all that matters is the upward advance of shareholder value? Or the politician who thinks all good springs from their next re-election?

(I personally have an answer to this, but play devil's advocate instead.)

Dawkins' writes (in The Selfish Gene) that "evolutionary stable strategies" (ESS) emerge in populations with the precision of mathematics (OK, maybe I go too far). There may exist in the evolution of the human brain an ESS that distributes compassion and selfishness to such an extent that no matter how much information a compassionate shares with the selfish the latter remain true to their selfishness. Likewise, in the memetics of culture, ESS may emerge where no matter how elightened and liberal the education some may still choose ugly fascism or worse over peace, justice, and equality. I am getting on in years; I just am not as optimistic as I once was.

To borrow from another memetic tome, we are without excuse.

[WhiteTara]

40. they are so stupid. No wonder we are soooo

screwed!
:hi:

[fujiyama]

46. I have not even the slightest bit of sympathy

for anyone driving an EXCURSION (of all the ridiculous vehicles), and complaining about gas prices.

Hey stupid "die hard republican" bitch. Why aren't your sons over in Iraq doing some REAL dying?

[ozymandius]

8. I say anything above 1% approval is too damn high.

For 34% of the genral voting age population to approve of this train wreck - they're probably just not paying attention.

[UpInArms]

12. ARG is the group that after asking and receiving my approval to

be "polled" - asked to speak to my "husband" - :eyes:

I let that little girl have my opinion about their poll - they were trying to skew the results and didn't want a "female" opinion.

[rodeodance]

14. that is odd cause women went to Bush because of the security question

[UpInArms]

34. it was just before OIL (Operation Iraqi Liberation) and the

men in the rural areas were salivating to watch Shock and Awe Reality TV.

:shrug:

[onehandle]

2. Unpopular President.

According to Atrios, Bush hasn't broken 50% in over a year in any major poll.

http://pollingreport.com/BushJob1.htm

[yellowcanine]

4. Yes but he may indeed have bottomed out. It is possible that 34%

represents the number of people who would support Bush short of him lying us into a war and gasoline, natural gas, heating oil and electricity being at record highs. Oh wait.....

[AX10]

19. I believe that Bush's lowest approval will be 30%....

with 67% dissapproving. I 30% is the hardcore base that will never leave him or the GOP.

[lyonn]

21. I feel comfortable with 29%

Between now and election time we must be ready for all the "moral" issues this bunch will throw out there, immigration, gays, god and taxes, taxes 'cause the real dummies and the real rich can appreciate bush's tax issue.

[LetsGoMurphys]

26. I feel comfortable with 29 people n/t

[Oak2004]

42. I think he can go far lower

I think the truly hard core is no more than 15%, and even they are subject to some erosion, because nobody likes an incompetent or a loser.

[Teaser]

3. suck it, *

nt

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

6. WTF!?!?!? Undecided about the DECIDER????

Who the hell are these "undecided" people?:freak: :dunce: :wtf:

[ckramer]

47. These people might be the "true americans" as Bush called it

they have to work three jobs and got no time to sleep! They don't know who George W Bush is!

[Peter Frank]

7. The numbers for the Republican Congress are even lower...

If they remain the same in Nov. (barring an unsurprising October surprise), how will a paperless re-election of a Republican house & senate be explained? (...asside from the extant & blatant gerrymandering)

[CJCRANE]

9. ARG POLL: Bush Disapproval 60%

[bdamomma]

13. I want to see

this piece of waste, go below 30%.

[schmuls]

16. How do "they" get these approval rating statistics????? "They"

never ask me!!!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

17. A little deceptive. Note the dates.

the 4/21 numbers show a decline in support but the 3/15 numbers predate lots of events. I suspect that a majority now support impeachment.

[AX10]

18. Soon he'll be at 30%.

:nopity:

[Ratty]

23. Wartime presidents are always unpopular

After the war at any rate. Look what they did to Churchill after WWII. We're just a bunch of ingrates, turning on that heroic man's man of a president after all he's done for us, protecting us from the Iraqis like he's done. So 9/11 happened on Bush's watch, it's not his fault! Of course it disrupted the economy and of course it's hurt gas prices. You expect things like that during a time of war. And if Clinton had been doing his job and catching the terrorists instead of letting interns blow him, we'd never be in this mess in the first place.

OK, enough. Can I barf now?

[maine_raptor]

27. Ahh, er, Excuse Me?

Just which President:

A) got a memo titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside The United States" one month before 9/11?

B) sat for seven minutes quietly (approx 420 seconds) in front of a classroom of school children after being told: "America is under attack" on 9/11?

Here's a hint: He's not Clinton.

Never mind Iraq............how about that bit of Presidential leadership?

And as for Churchill.........he was turned out because the economy of GB went "south" by that time of the war because Churchill bankrupted GB in order to win the war. Kinda' sounds like the guy we got running the show now, eh?



Of course no self respecting ring-wing talk radio show host would ever allow such a rebuttal to the above argument to ever air.

[TheLeftyMom]

28. Kinda... but...

"And as for Churchill.........he was turned out because the economy of GB went "south" by that time of the war because Churchill bankrupted GB in order to win the war. Kinda' sounds like the guy we got running the show now, eh?"


Well, kinda, but at least that was a war that the UK had to fight. The Germans would have come after them at some point even if they had attempted to remain neutral.

If we were bombed daily, I could deal with the economy going seriously south -- but we're just not fighting a war that is in any shape or form worth the cost. Sigh.

I really hate Dubya.

[maine_raptor]

30. Well another part of the puzzle is

that the Labor Unions had been promised large gains for war-time sacrifices, and in the election a large number of workers voted Labor just to make sure the promises were kept. Between the attempt to make good on those promises, the wartime damage to the economy, and the costs of civilian conversion it's no wonder GB's economy tanked.

I concur with that last remark, though.........LOL

[spotbird]

29. But we invaded the wrong country,

Clinton didn't cause that.

[zann725]

31. Considering these are no doubt "spun" numbers...make that 34 minus 10+

Aa has been some time. Remember we still get primarly "gov't-edited" news. SO....."34" is the best-"doctored" number they could get away promoting.

[bdamomma]

32. everytime bush approval rating goes down

he pulls out bin laden to scare us......bin laden boogeyman.

[AlinPA]

35. That 34% are the right-wing "Christian", intolerant , hate-filled ,

anti-science bigots.

[brentspeak]

36. Bush's approval ratings are like the submarine in "Das Boot"

Only, I don't think Bush will be able to resurface.

[Roland99]

37. New CNN poll has the Propagandist at *32%*!!

[Phoonzang]

43. CNN is blasting Bush today...

32 percent....wow. NYT calling for Cheney to resign... Another General speaking out against Rummy... Yep, time for a terrorist attack I guess. :eyes:

[fob]

44. So bush* has the support of 1/3 of pirates! Arg, I say, Arg!

nt

[LexMan81]

48. This Is My First Post :D

I think his approval rates will fall close to 25%