Poll: Bush Ratings Continue Slide - CBS poll has Bush's approval at 41%

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/24/opinion/polls/main619122.shtml

(CBS) The war in Iraq continues to tarnish the approval ratings of President Bush. Evaluations of the way Mr. Bush is handling the war in Iraq, how he is handling foreign policy, and how he is handling his job overall are now at their lowest levels ever in his presidency.

Mr. Bush's overall job approval rating has continued to decline. Forty-one percent approve of the job he is doing as president, while 52 percent disapprove — the lowest overall job rating of his presidency. Two weeks ago, 44 percent approved. A year ago, two-thirds did.

Sixty-one percent of Americans now disapprove of the way Mr. Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, while just 34 percent approve.

As concern about the situation in Iraq grows, 65 percent now say the country is on the wrong track — matching the highest number ever recorded in CBS News Polls, which began asking this question in the mid-1980's. Only 30 percent currently say things in this country are headed in the right direction. One year ago, in April 2003, 56 percent of Americans said the country was headed in the right direction.

more

[Wickerman]

1. 56 percent of Americans were seriously deluded in April of 2003

alternate headline.

[callous taoboy]

4. spot on!

[goforit]

59. They were deluded and chose to be blind = They're responsible

for carrying on and following the great baboon!!!

[NNN0LHI]

2. Below 40% is considered unelectable by most. Yep n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

3. I've head that 50% and below...

...means Bush is unelectable. Sorry, but I like my number better, Don. ;)

[NNN0LHI]

6. I bet the powers that be are seriously looking for a replacement right now

Not to save the White House either. More to save Republican control of Congress.

Don

[TahitiNut]

12. No way, no how.

They're stuck with the $200 million dollar "man."

[Josh]

9. 50% and under for an incumbent is vulnerable; >40% is toast.

I'd just love to see Bush's approval rating fall to 38%. I doubt he could recover from that.

[Submariner]

11. Your generous!

I'd love to see Bush's approval rating fall much further to 28%. I want his spirit crushed so bad that he returns to the Crawfish pig farm and the only stories we ever hear about him are about his drunken screaming tirades where he is found almost every morning laying in his own Jim Bean induced puke.

[TahitiNut]

13. Anything above 5% is a measure of idiocy.

There's not a single person in the entire maladministration who hasn't earned a ride out of D.C. on a rail, wearing a tar-and-feather tuxedo.

[Seabiscuit]

57. Make that 8%

Burn that toast so badly that even the racoons will spit it out before swallowing.

[4_Legs_Good]

37. I'm betting on 38% by the end of the first week of June...

I agree, I think it's the low water mark, and I believe it's unrecoverable without some unforseen incidents.

His upcoming Iraq talks and the handover are his last ditch efforts to appear "Presidential" and recover. I don't think he can do it, but we'll see I guess.

Let's start revving up, Kerry!

david

[stewert]

15. Try This One.........

No President in the history of America has ever been re-elected when his approval
number was below 50% in May.

The real number to watch is the percent of people who say he should be re-elected. The
job approval number is a popularity poll, the true measure of a Presidents job is the re-elect
number.

The latest zogby poll says that if the election were held today only 41.7% say that they would
support President Bush.

That is a very low number for Bush, it shows he is in real trouble.

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=826

[ElementaryPenguin]

40. Kerry's rope-a-dope strategy might be just the ticket!

Kerry Camp is correct if they realize that this election is going to be more about dumping/hating Bushler than it is loving/exalting Kerry - which is fine!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

16. Below 45% re-elect and/or below 50% approval rating.

Or so I've heard.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

5. Kerry needs to "Go Positive"

Now's the time. He doesn't need to attack Bush because, basically, current events are doing that job quite nicely on their own. Disenchanted moderate Republicans and Independents are now looking at Kerry to decide if he's going to be "their guy" come November. Kerry needs to be talking positively about how his administration will lead America.

Bush will go into free-fall after that.

[Ganja Ninja]

17. Kerry needs to start pushing the message that ...

we need an exit strategy in Iraq and not the current crazy fantasy that the UN or NATO is going to help us out.

[0007]

25. Absolutely, Kerry's best bet would be, is to let junior self destruct.

....and talking positively about the Democratic game plan. Whatever that may be!

[pinto]

29. would love to see Kerry address that "compassion" thing they used to

dress Busboy in....

[UpInArms]

7. I read something the other day

that inferred that more people were turning to the internet for their news than the evening news programs.

Hopefully, folks are realizing that they are only getting "part" of the news and that there is an alternative to being lied to by the preening heads.

[stewert]

18. Hey UpInArms......

The nightly news shows get 9 to 10 million viewers.

Almost every household in America has internet access now, do the math. I would
bet way more than 10 million people a day get their news from the net.

And the cable news networks average about 400,000 (MSNBC) 900,000 (CNN)
1,000,000 (FOX) viewers at any one time. Very few cable news shows get over 1 million
viewers. I believe 3 or 4 cable news shows do over 1 million viewers.

[izzie]

8. Why does Bush hide out every week-end?

Is he into the Bible, bottle or just play time?He never seems to be running a thing. And when the news talks to him he seems to know nothing. What is going on in DC?

[iconoclastic cat]

22. The Bible IS his intoxicant

That makes 3 things he misuses: Language, religion, and democracy.

[pinto]

30. ssshhhh....no body knows....................................n/t

[LiberalFighter]

54. I saw him get off the copter today on the news...

He was just barely keeping his balance. In my eyes.

[Teaser]

10. Why no head-to-head Bush/Kerry matchup?

Seriously, why bother doing a poll on *just* Bush's approval rating?

[Malva Zebrina]

14. It will be interesting to see what happens to his numbers after his speech

tonight. I am willing to bet no one will watch. The latest stunt, deliberate or not, the fall off the bicycle while speeding along for seventeen miles on a mountain bike, trying to outdo Kerry, probably has a lot of people wondering if he fell off drunk or at the least, the wisdom of doing so without any training or exercises. Further, why is he down there in Crawford, apparently wanting to be macho mano competing with Kerry, taking the weekend off away from DC, when everything is going on in Iraq--bombing weddings and denying or lying about it and where is he and where are his comments--did not even send out Laura Bora to say how "wrenching" it is that terrorists pretended to be having a wedding, and put their children in harms's way. <sarcasm>

[Beetwasher]

21. If They Are Putting Him Out There Every Week to Make Another

empty speech, they are desperately desperate.

I can only think that was Bush's idea. He's probably so deluded he thinks he can pull it off. I'm ecstatic he's doing this. Every speech is another opportunity for the now rather significant majority of people who dissaprove of him to really soldify their dissaproval when they see what a complete fuck up he is.

[mistertrickster]

32. You are correct, Sir (or Madam) . . . The more people listen to Bush,

the more they don't like him.

He only got this far because his handlers kept him away from microphones for three years.

[apnu]

42. True, but now that its election season....

... the handlers can't keep him from the mic. Otherwise Kerry will be running by himself! What a dream that would be eh?

[ProfessorGAC]

31. My Take On That, Marianne

You're right in that it's an act of desperation. However, they're walking on a razor's edge.

If he changes one thing in the plan, the whole "Kerry Flip-Flop" mantra is out the window. Can't use it now, if Bush changes his mind, since Kerry's response will always be "You mean like the President changed on Iraq?"

If he "Stays The Course" the disapproval of his handling of things in Iraq is reinforced, because those that already disapprove will not be swayed by an argument that the disaster in the making will all be ok. They don't believe it now.

So, he's sort of between a rock and hard place on this one. They honestly feel they've got nothing else. It's a last ditch effort to avoid imploding.
The Professor

[NewYorkerfromMass]

46. I heard it will be a "series of speeches" on Iraq

there's certainly a lot to cover on that one subject.

[LiberalFighter]

55. Didn't you hear?

The big 4 are not broadcasting. They don't want to mess with their big lineups.

[Mike Daniels]

19. Yet, the caveat is "How many people will still vote for him over Kerry"

It seems that every time an article comes out touting Bush's slide into oblivion that further down the article there's something indicating that despite such low approval on all elements of his job that Bush still leads or is tied with Kerry in the polls.


Has partisanship gotten so bad in this country that people would vote for a majorly flawed candidate from their party strictly to keep the opposing political party out of the White House?

[Beetwasher]

20. 65 percent now say the country is on the wrong track — matching the highes

65 percent now say the country is on the wrong track — matching the highest number ever recorded in CBS News Polls

65 percent now say the country is on the wrong track — matching the highest number ever recorded in CBS News Polls

65 percent now say the country is on the wrong track — matching the highest number ever recorded in CBS News Polls

65 percent now say the country is on the wrong track — matching the highest number ever recorded in CBS News Polls

I just thought that was worthy of repeating. This number has always been a very good indicator for re-election.

[kevin881]

24. alltime highs since the poll started... not just during GW's tenure.

[Jack Rabbit]

23. Good news. Please don't get complacent

We must not only continue to erode Bush's base of support, but we must block avenues he has to rig the election.

A few talking points:

• Bush will meet the June 30 handover date because nothing is being handed over.
• Bush signed executive orders authorizing that the war on terror's detention system would be secret and beyond federal and international scrutiny; that invited the horrors and Bush is responsible for them.
• There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq at the time of the invasion nor did Saddam have any ties to al Qaida; the war was justified by a pack of lies that Bush and his lieutenants had to know were lies.
• If economic figures are improving now, it isn't because of Bush's tax cuts but because they couldn't have gotten worse; Bush will end his first (and hopefully last) term with negative job growth. Are you better off now than you were under Clinton?
• Both Bush and Kerry are children of privilege, but Kerry went to Vietnam in spite of his misgivings and serve bravely and honorably while Bush, in spite of his support for the war in Vietnam, used his family connections to buy his way into a champagne guard unit and didn't even fulfill his obligations to that; Kerry is a better man than Bush.
• BBV without a paper trail can be used to rig an election by Democrats as easily as Republicans; it must not be allowed.

This is the good fight. Keep it up.

[iconoclastic cat]

27. Hey, mods, could we have a Talking Points forum? It would help...

to keep us focused.

[kevin881]

26. great news, but there are 6 months to go. -NT.

[alarcojon]

33. Welcome to DU!

[crossroads]

44. Welcome to DU!

Bush has to show his face now and probably hope the scrapes from that fall will get him some sympathy points! Too late for that the public has finally started to see him for what he truly is: a Bushiter! This speech is damage control!!!
:kick:

[John_H]

28. Yet another meaningless poll.

These polls are as meaningless as the ones from three months ago that had chimp above the "sure win" point. One terra attack (MIHOP,LIHOP, or actual, a string of good economic numbers, "finding" Osama, a last ditch declare-victory-and-pull-out of Iraq, or any combination of the above can put us back on square one in a heartbeat. Incumbent Prez's have a big advantage: most people want them to do well.

Now's the time to double your efforts. Register voters, raise money for Kerry and especially organizations that will get out the vote, work, work work. And don't forget: If every dem brings a couple non-voting dems to the polls Nov 2, it's a Kerry landslide.

[Spazito]

34. Here is a Yahoo article on the poll...

rate it up!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/us_vote_iraq_poll

[otohara]

35. Thank You 60 Minutes/CBS

for exposing the truth finally for several Sunday's in a row!

[arwalden]

36. What Are Likely To Be His ROCK-BOTTOM Numbers?

35% approval rating?
60% disapproval?

-- Allen

[4_Legs_Good]

38. I still say 38%

Hardcore Republicans, radical-right and Christian conservatives. I say he hits in the beginning of June. Hopefully he doesn't rebound from there.

david

[Beetwasher]

39. I'd Say 34% is his bottom (His Iraq Approval in the CBS Poll)

These are the deluded fools who would excuse him raping young boys on TV.

That's pretty scary in and of itself that 1/3 of the country is capable of that type of delusion. If 34% think he's doing a good job in Iraq, he can do anything and they'd approve. His numbers can/will never get lower than that number.

[LuminousX]

41. And this is with FoxNews pulling hard for him

and other conservative media sources trying to prop him up. Imagine what he'd be polling at if it weren't just the fringe media reporting the truth about his misadministration of this country?

[CO Liberal]

43. Nixon Dropped to 24% Before He Resigned

And toward the end (end of July/beginning of August 1974), scored of Republicans started calling for his resignation, including some of his most vocal supporters, such as Rep. Charles Sandman of NJ.

[LiberalFighter]

56. Unfortunately, republicans are the same as Nixon's

But, whatever is the base for the repugs it should go a bit lower than that. There are plenty of voters that have never voted for anyone but repugs that will not vote for gw* this time around because he is a disappointment or scares them.

[Doosh]

45. Johnson was at 43.5 in May of 1968

and he got out of the race before defeat.

Nixon was riding high at 62% in May of 1972, and won in a landslide

Ford was at a shakey 47% in May of 1976, and lost in a fairly close election

Carter was at an unfortunate 40% in May of 1980. He would slip further and lose in a landslide

Reagan was at 54% in May of 1984, won in a landslide

Bush was at 40% in May of 1992, and losr soundly to Clinton

Clinton was at 54% in May of 1996, won in landslide.

Shrub is sitting at 41%, history is NOT on his side. He's going down in flames.

[UpInArms]

47. related: Bush Approval Slides as 65% Cite `Wrong Direction,' Poll Says

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aH75Bm2qAAWw&refer=top_world_news

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush's job approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency and 65 percent of Americans -- the highest since 1994 -- say the country is on the ``wrong track,'' according to a CBS News poll.

Concern about the situation in Iraq contributed to Bush's job approval rating of 41 percent, down from 44 percent two weeks ago and 66 percent a year ago, the poll said.

The last time 65 percent of Americans said the country was on the wrong track was in November 1994 when voters gave Republicans control of the House of Representatives and the Senate for the first time in 42 years.

Majorities disapprove of the way Bush is handling foreign policy and the U.S. economy. Just 37 percent approve of Bush's foreign policy while 56 percent disapprove.

...more...

[Moderator]

48. Kick

Apparently, this thread needs to be kicked to the top of the page. We've just locked about 5 duplicates of it. :)

[RamboLiberal]

49. ABC - WP has him at 47%

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/Polls/bush_iraq_poll_040524.ht...

Public assessments of President Bush's job performance have fallen to new lows, pushed by concerns about the military and political situation in Iraq, unhappiness with the prisoner abuse scandal and lingering discontent with his economic stewardship at home.

For the first time in ABCNEWS/Washington Post polls, fewer than half of Americans, 47 percent, approve of Bush's overall job performance, while more, 50 percent, disapprove. The president's approval rating matches Gerald Ford's in the spring before his narrow loss in the 1976 presidential election.

Bush's rating specifically for handling the situation in Iraq likewise is at its worst of his career; 58 percent disapprove. Disapproval of his handling of the prisoner abuse scandal has spiked by 22 points — 57 percent disapprove, up from 35 percent earlier this month. His rating on the economy, while stable, is hardly better; 54 percent disapprove, with 64 percent saying rising gasoline prices have caused financial hardship in their families.

<snip>

Also better for Bush, approval of his handling of terrorism — while at a new low — remains much higher than his other ratings; 58 percent approve. (But it's the first time this has inched below six in 10.) And Kerry has drawn only modest benefit from the president's troubles. Bush still leads in most personal attributes and in trust to handle Iraq and terrorism, and, as noted, the contest between them is a dead heat.

[Disturbed]

50. A serious question about shrub's brain.

W's Brain

Bob Woodward's description (in Plan of Attack) of an unusual event in which Bush suddenly "began speaking as though in a foreign language" and looking confused...I've wondered if Mr. Bush suffers from temporal lobe epilepsy.

The description Woodward gives sound very much like Mr. Bush had what's known as a "complex partial seizure". Woodward's further mention of a medication the president takes twice daily and the secrecy with which this info is guarded are also very suggestive : there are a number of
anti-epileptic medications taken twice daily) schedule. I
would think that the stigma associated with epilepsy (often undeservedly so) would make it something Bush's advisors would hush up.


"Vice President Cheney is the de facto President of the United States. When he arrives at the White House for one of his "briefings" of the President, all employees are cleared from the West Wing and especially from the Presidential office suites. Cheney arrives in an escorted armored limousine surrounded by his own personal, heavily armed bodyguard and is always shown directly into the President's office. It is reliably reported by that Bush has a thick pad of lined, yellow note paper on his desk, placed there by just before the Vice President arrives."

"After Cheney's departure, the notes taken by the President are transcribed by and prepared as talking points for the President..."

"At some time in the past, according to both and the President suffered what one of his aides called "a very minor seizure" and as a result of this, the President has a very difficult time following any unscripted conversations. For this reason, his staff carefully and aggressively protect the President from "unexpected" questions that he is not capable of answering."

"The President takes oral medication at least twice a day according to because of an unspecified "indisposition' and this subject is strictly off limits for any casual staff conversation."

"At one point during a staff conference, the President stood up and began to speak in an unknown language. Mr. Rove was able to stop the President and get him to resume his seat. It was reported by that for a period of time (about fifteen minutes) after this incident, the President appeared to be 'somewhat confused and very inarticulate.'"

[wishlist]

51. This seizure part of Woodward's book has been overlooked by media-

But Bush wearing a mouth guard (according to his spokesman) on his bike ride last weekend adds credence to the possibility he has a seizure disorder. Although that begs the question of why he would risk an accident by high risk mountain biking.

I do think he has some kind of brain problem, just like I thought all along that Ronald Reagan wasn't all there mentally and was being protected and propped up by others.

Bush's last press conference proves Woodward's statement that Bush is incapable of answering unexpected questions!

[loudsue]

53. When it comes time to debate Kerry....we'll have a "crisis", and

bush will have to "cancel, for national security reasons". I'm sure the Rove white house has NO intention of EVER letting bush get before a camera opposite John Kerry for a debate.

Unless, of course, Rove gets to set all the rules of the debate.
Hide and watch!

:kick:

[Wapsie B]

63. For there to be even 1 debate,

Rove would have to set the rules. This would need to be like chimpy's carefully scripted press conferences.

Regarding chimpy's supposed seizures, it was posted on DU earlier that these could be caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse. Makes sense to me. I think his system's shutting down.
For as much hard living as he did before he supposedly found Jesus, there's going to be hell to pay.

[Change has come]

61. The seizure disorder certainly explains the frequent road rash

that appears on *'s face. A common side effect of seizure medication is confusion and dizziness. HMMMMM I wonder how many sympathy votes this would garner?? Interesting stuff.

[daleo]

60. That is amazing stuff

I might buy the Woodward book just for that.

[Arugula Latte]

52. YESYESYESOHGODYES!

Ahhhhhh. That was satisfying. :smoke:

[are_we_united_yet]

58. Funnnnnnnyyyyy!

:)

[Algomas]

62. Even with the media's bootlicking spin in his favor...

he is going down!!! I say retirement is too good for these mass murderers. May I suggest life imprisonment without parole at Guantanamo, hooded and wired with a web-cam monitoring their every move.