Why is Bush so unpopular NOW?

[yvr girl]

How much has really changed in the last 8 months? Why couldn't people see past his staged photo ops 8 months ago?

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. They did.

The polls were correct.

Diebold explains it all.

[yvr girl]

4. To a point maybe

But I think he is much less popular now. I think the election would have been a squeeker without any help from Diebold.

[Goldmund]

9. I agree

Even if you say "the polls were right", there were plenty of polls in which he was leading Kerry by a few points shortly before the election. His approval ratings were in the low 50s -- and most of all, the athmosphere was completely different: while 8 months ago he was being accused of mere incompetence, now he's being accused of lying.

[jobycom]

11. The polls? They showed Bush winning by 2 to 5% before the electio

The election was closer than the polls showed.

So I guess I'm confused by what you mean.

[TruthIsAll]

31. Not true. 11 of 18 national pollsters had Kerry winning.

[jobycom]

38. When were those taken?

That goes against my memory, which doesn't mean much, sadly.

These are within the MOE of most polls, though. They show a tie.

[helderheid]

33. go here

www.exitpollz.org

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Gay marriage isn't being thrown in their faces every 5 seconds.

They used the anti-Gay Marriage Amendment to whip their bigoted followers into enough of a frenzy to win the election. Now that we haven't heard hardly anything about that since November, the bigots aren't lathered up any more.

[MemphisTiger]

18. Bingo

his kool-aid drinkers are growing weary of his lack of attention. During the election, they were catered to everyday, with phrases like "culture of life" and "institution of marriage". Now they just see kids getting killed in Iraq and gas going through the roof.

[Botany]

3. Trust me .....

..... I live in Ohio .... he got his ass kicked here .....
even in Repug suburbs of Columbus ..... big anti bush feelings.

[AX10]

5. Bush stole it twice.

President Gore and President Kerry....

...they are the REAL PRESIDENTS.

[ollie79]

13. Amen

I can't sleep at night knowing the election was stolen. We all know George P. was hacking in from his computer at UT Law.

[Zodiak]

23. He stole central Ohio...that I can say.

Yup....I was there (here) too. Everyone in central Ohio was clearly for Kerry. We had had anough here before election day. The ONLY way Bush could have won in some of the districts around here is if thousands of freepers took an invisibility potion and voted that way.

And he isn't loved in rural Ohio, either....at least not Northwest rural Ohio.

[Botany]

26. I live in Columbus OH .....

...... and saw and heard the fraud 1st hand. I also work as a landscaper .....
traditional repub. areas like Worthington & Upper Arlington had big anti
bush movements ......

We had republicans of 30 years working for Kerry ......

[helderheid]

35. the electronic vote machines were freeped!

[coloradodem2005]

6. Diebold in part.

But I think the Republicans hit critical mass a few months ago. Now it is all downhill.

[Goldmund]

7. Because he's been losing political battles.

Schiavo, fillibuster, stem cells, social security, and other such things. It's sad, but true: lost political ground is what gave people the "permission" to turn against Bush.

[yvr girl]

14. His positions haven't changed though

If someone supported him on stem cells or social security before, they should still be sympatico with him even though he hasn't made headway.

[Goldmund]

19. Not really

Now the good Christian GOP senators and congressmen are turning against Bush on stem cells and social security, for example. The red state sheeple are dependent upon a monolithic authority to tell them what to think; without it, they're dazed and confused. What's the good Christian thing to do -- what Bush says, or what Hagel says? Frist or McCain?

[LSparkle]

16. You got it.

They've been wrong on SO many things that the camel's back is finally broken. I think the KKKarl comments helped a little, too -- the indignation of Dems (and even Independents) is out in the open now, as opposed to having been hidden before.

[jobycom]

8. Because of DU

And others who have been hammering home the DSM. The economy is also bad, so people can see Bush lying about that. Once people start seeing the tiny man behind the curtain, Bush's image will crash quickly.

Right now I don't think people hate him. They are expressing a cautious disapproval--sort of a warning to him. If he doesn't respond, the disapproval will get stronger, and then Bush is in danger of losing Congress.

IMHO. Not definitive.

[LSparkle]

24. You're right about the economy -- gas prices rise as he kisses the Saudis

He said he was going to "talk tough" to the Crown Prince, but he ended up holding his hand and slinking away like a spurned lover. All at the same time that gas prices were hitting record highs. Part of the reason some people probably voted for him was because they thought he could ensure a continuing supply of cheap oil, yet when the chips were down, he proved completely ineffectual.

[ThomWV]

10. So He Won't Be in 2006

Mid Terms. If you have to take heat, and the party has to take heat, get it over with now.

[bunny planet]

12. He was just as unpopular before the election. The ghosts in the machines

created the MANDATE.

[Goldmund]

15. Are you saying...

...that you don't sense a change in the athmosphere, in the tone of national discourse, since 8 moths ago?

[BlueStateBlue]

29. The media's beginning to turn on him

:woohoo:

[bunny planet]

42. Didn't mean to give that impression. I'm just saying that he was at 45% in

some poles before the election and somehow miraculously he won anyway. I just think the press is beginning to finally report the true disatisfaction that's really out there now and has been for awhile.

[yvr girl]

22. I don't agree

His status in these environs hasn't changed, but that is to be expected. The media is more critical of him and his popularity has been in a steady decline (in polls.)

[Jacobin]

17. Simple. The Terra Lerts(tm) ran out

They used them over and over prior to the election and it bumped his poll numnbers up each time....but each time they did it, the bump got smaller, so they had to stop.

No one believes the terra lerts anymore and the security moms are pissed about IraqNam, gasoline and the economy sucks.

I predict another terra tack, soon

[Ezlivin]

47. It was the frequent terror alerts

Do people remember the spate of them that happened right before the election? The Dept. of Homeland Security was fully on the propanganda bandwagon.

We are surrounded by sheep. While I love sheep, they can be rather dull at times.

[Stephanie]

20. Gas prices, medical costs, housing costs, job losses

Unending war, unending terror threats, lies about social security, lies about WMD, lies about a cakewalk, a fake reporter/male prostitute in the WH press corps, a treasonous traitor in the WH (Plame), and in the Pentagon (AIPAC) - I don't know - maybe more people are reading the news?

[ComerPerro]

21. Because he's not running for anything

Honestly, it doesn't matter how low his appoval rating gets. He's not up for re-election, and it will be at least nine months before they even start worrying about midterms.

[stanwyck]

25. America has never unseated a wartime president

and that's how Bush squeaked back in. Rove and Co. played their hand well. Bush pronounced himself "a war president" and the drumbeats from the GOP were all about a nation defending itself against foreign terrorists.
It worked.
A frightened nation (not so many terror alerts since the election....)narrowly kept Bush as president.
But no mandate.
In fact, a very embarrassing showing for a wartime president...or any sitting president.
But. The Bushies proclaimed victory.
And the media followed by slavishly acting as though Bush had the will of the people.
He didn't.
He had a very vocal hateradio crowd of loudspeakers.
And Faux Network. And the imitators.
But a more careful scrutiny of middle America would have forefold what we're seeing now.
Bush is not a popular president.
Just saying he is doesn't make it happen.

[helderheid]

40. welllllll

there are some other things that never happen but did:

If you still think the 2004 election was legitimate, then here are some other things you must also believe if you really believe that George W. Bush won the election:

1. That the exit polls were WRONG.
2. That Zogby’s 5pm election day calls for Kerry winning OH and FL were WRONG. He was exactly RIGHT in his 2000 final poll.
3. That Harris’ last minute polling for Kerry was WRONG. He was exactly RIGHT in his 2000 final poll.
4. That the Incumbent Rule (that undecideds break for the challenger) was WRONG.
5. That the 50% Rule was WRONG (that an incumbent doesn’t do better than his final polling)
6. That the Approval Rating Rule was WRONG (that an incumbent with less than 50% approval will most likely lose the election)
7. That Greg Palast was WRONG when he said that even before the election, 1 million votes were stolen from Kerry. He was the ONLY reporter to break the fact that 90,000 Florida blacks were disenfranchised in 2000.
8. That it was just a COINCIDENCE that the exit polls were CORRECT where there WAS a PAPER TRAIL and INCORRECT (+5% for Bush) where there was NO PAPER TRAIL.
9. That the surge in new young voters had NO positive effect for Kerry.
10. That Bush BEAT 99-1 mathematical odds in winning the election.
11. That Kerry did WORSE than Gore against an opponent who LOST the support of SCORES of Republican newspapers who were for Bush in 2000.
12. That Bush did better than an 18 national poll average which showed him tied with Kerry at 47. In other words, Bush got 80% of the undecided vote to end up with a 51-48 majority - when ALL professional pollsters agree that the undecided vote ALWAYS goes to the challenger.
13. That voting machines made by Republicans with no paper trail and with no software publication, which have been proven by thousands of computer scientists to be vulnerable in scores of ways, were NOT tampered with in this election.
14. That people who voted for Bush were not anxious to speak to exit pollsters in the states that Bush had to win (like Florida and Ohio) where the exit polls were off, but wanted to be polled in states that he had sewn up (like Arizona, Louisiana and Arkansas) where the exit polls were exactly correct.
15. That Democrats who voted for Kerry were very anxious to be exit-polled, especially in Florida and Ohio (and that this is what accounts for the discrepancy between the exit polls and the actual votes in these two critical states).
16. That women were much more likely to be polled early in the day in Florida and Ohio. That is another reason why the exit polls were wrong in those states. In those states in which the exit polls were correct to within one percent, women did not come out early.
17. That network newscasters who claim that those who consider the possibility of fraud are just wild conspiracy theorists do not have an agenda.
18. That it is just a coincidence that only since the 2000 presidential election have exit polls failed to agree with the actual vote - and that Bush won both disputed elections.
19. That exit polls are not to be trusted in the United States, even though they are used throughout the world to monitor elections for fraud.
20. That even though more votes were cast than there were eligible voters in many precincts of critical states, it is not an issue that needs to be covered in the media.
21. That the absence of a paper ballot trail for touch screen computers does not encourage fraud, even though they have been proven by hundreds of computer experts to be highly vulnerable to fraudulent attack.
22. That statistical tests which indicate a high probability of fraud are just conspiratorial junk science.
23. That Bush’s vote tallies could exceed his exit poll percentage in FL by 4%. Based on 2846 individuals exit polled, the polling margin of error was 1.84%. The odds of this occurrence: 1 out of 1667.
24. That his vote tallies could exceed his exit poll percentage in OH by 3%. Based on 1963 individuals exit polled, the polling margin of error was 2.21%. The odds of this occurrence: 1 out of 333.
25. That his vote tallies could exceed his exit poll percentages in 41 out of 51 states. The odds of this occurrence: 1 out of 135,000.
26. That his vote tallies could exceed the margin of error in 16 states. Not one state vote tally exceeded the MOE for Kerry. The odds of this occurrence: 1 out of 13.5 Trillion.
27. That his vote tallies could exceed a 2% exit poll margin of error in 23 states. The probability of this occurrence: as close to ZERO as you can get.
28. That of 88 documented touch screen incidents, 86 voters would see their vote for Kerry come up Bush - and only TWO from Bush to Kerry. The probability of this occurrence: as close to ZERO as you can get.
29. That Mitofsky (who ran the exit polls), with 25 years of experience, has lost his exit polling touch.
30. That by disputing the Ukrainian elections, the Bush administration would base its case on the accuracy of U.S. sponsored exit polling, while at the same time ignoring exit polls in the U.S. presidential election, which the media reported Kerry was winning handily.
31. That Bush could overcome Kerry’s 50.8% - 48.2% lead in the National Exit Poll Sub-sample (13,047 polled) and win the popular vote: 51.2% - 48.4%, a 3.0% increase from the exit poll to the vote tally, far beyond the 0.86% margin of error. The odds of this occurrence: 1 out of 282 Billion.
32. According to a London-based insurance actuary, the odds of all of these things happening in ONE election, let alone two elections in a row, are too astronomical to be calculated!

[goclark]

46. Brilliant..can you do a separate thread on your post..it needs to be seen

in the light of last nights speech,

[rurallib]

27. Many who voted for Bush were actually voting against Kerry

The scare tactics such as SBVT worked. Like many a battered wife they denied the truth, feared the unknown and went back to the batterer. Like said wife, they are now finding out that the promises were lies and now they must face another round of battering.
Sadly, I fear that if the election were held in 2 months the same goddamned thing would happen. Fear, false promises would hold sway over the truth and B*** would be re-elected. That plus a few fixed machines.

[Kraklen]

28. Fool the American people once, shame on them.

Fool them twice, shame on them.

Fool them trice, shame on them.

But eventually they start putting two and two together.

[Nay]

30. Personally, I think his 60-day tour to trash...uh, I mean, change

Social Security got EVERYONE worried about what he was doing and why. All those red-staters? The only thing keeping grandma and grandpa and all the great aunts and uncles in their own homes (shabby as they may be) is SOCIAL SECURITY MONEY. The idea that this pitiful sum would be trifled with scares the shit out of everybody, cuz they know the stock market won't promise them anything, and neither will their bosses or anyone else.

[teach1st]

32. The Republicans with whom I've talked...

...and who have dropped their support for Bush mention Schaivo and their worry about the religious right.

[Stirk]

36. I've heard that one alot as well.

That really split them up.

[Stirk]

34. Social Security was a big one.

Alot of the people who *knew* Bush was lying about foreign policy, but didn't give a shit because it wouldn't affect them personally got *very angry* when he started attacking their *own* lives. They suddenly became willing to call a liar a liar.

[yvr girl]

43. I thought he had mentioned the private accounts prior to the election

but I could be wrong.

[RaleighNCDUer]

45. IIRC, he did, a little,

but with no examination or explanation of what it meant.

A mod repub friend was astounded to hear that the changeover would cost billions, and in the end the recipients would have less income than before, because the investment industry would be siphoning off a huge overhead, as opposed to the 2% that is now the overhead.

She voted for Kerry.

[Dulcinea]

37. Plenty of Repubs out there aren't fundies.

They're the ones who are turning on Boy George--the fiscal conservatives & the old-time conservatives who actually believe in the separation of church & state.

[Obamarama]

39. Because as a society we have to wait until things are REALLY bad...

Before we realize "Um, yeah...maybe there IS a problem."

It's what we Americans do (or at least the other 59 million of us who vote). I mean, come on...how long did it take for it to sink in that Big Macs, Whoppers and fries every other day are going to make you obese, cause your arteries to clog, and generally ruin your health.

It's a little too late when you show up, code blue, in the ER to realize that, afterall, maybe you should have been eating your fruits and vegetables all these years. But that's the scenario millions upon millions of our fellow Americans see play out in their lives...it's the price of ignoring the facts, signs and symptoms due to bad judgement until it's too damned late to do much about it except hope.

Well, our fellow Americans who voted for the biggest asshole to ever inhabit the West Wing are finally having their heart attacks over the fact that their man is fiddling while American soldiers and innocent Iraqis suffer death and injury, day in and day out, with no end in sight; while Osama bin Laden runs free; while the economy slips and slides its way to nowhere; while more than 40 million people can't afford basic healthcare while drug companies rack up phenomenal profits....the list goes on and on. They are now in "code blue", but if only they hadn't ignored all the symptoms prior to November we'd at least be on the way to resolving our various messes. But NO....here we are, stuck with the Boy King for three more years with not much choice other than for our country to spend the rest of the term in intensive care, clinging ever so precariously to democracy, the life of our country.

Unfortunately, we all get to suffer the consequences of the horrible pathology that is the Bush Administration. I just hope the ones who voted for the evil cabal suffer just a little more than the rest of us as we have the satisfaction of saying to them: Would you like a nice steaming order of freedom fries with that?

[Disturbed]

41. The steady drip of truth finally causes migraines.

The Amerikan people mostly aren't paying much attention to details yet the steady drip eventually gains critical mass.

[fla nocount]

44. The agents for this roadshow realize that the gig is worn.

The songs are maudlin, the outfits are thread-bare. The performers are little better than clowns that can only draw the attention of children.
It never was Shakespere...........pull the curtain.