Is Bush really gaining momentum over the Saddam capture?

[coloradodem2005]

I checked the Gallup Poll website and it seems like this may not be the case, however it is too soon to tell. My mother thinks that Bush is re-elected. I can only hope that she is wrong. I did point some things out to her and I get the impression from what I see and hear that some people are not all that impressed anymore. He certainly is not going to have post-9/11 approval ratings from this. I would bet that at least 45% of the people will still vote against him in 2004.

[knight_of_the_star]

1. They are saying he is

Because they know how screwed he's going to be in 2004. They are getting desperate.

[Atman]

2. Not according to CNN

They report today that only 3% suggested that Saddam's capture made them more likely to vote for Bush now. 45% Bush, 3% likely because of Saddam, 43% Not Bush. Statistical dead heat. Which is exactly what Bush and Diebold need to steal the election.

[Gloria]

3. Ah, yes, but they have not yet begun to REALLY spin......

vision of WMD's, mass graves, etc. etc. will dance like sugarplums in our heads. Then the trial will be like the OJ trial....the blood lust will be engaged....the chest pounding....then the Iran-Syria threat will be injected, you know the drill.....

[damnraddem]

4. They blew the capture -- it came 10 months too early.

Now all they can do is have a show trial in the months before the election. But a trial can also be a danger to Dubya, depending on what it brings out. And there is some residual damage to Rummy already -- CNN has already put on the famous picture of him shaking hands with Saddam in hte context of Saddam's capture.

By the way, for the graphically-talented morphers out there: a great picture would be one of Dubya with the beard and haggard look of the Saddam-captured picture.

[Snellius]

5. Bush is a premature ejaculator

They say Karl Rove is going around asking everyone in the Bush administration for some "Big Ideas" -- something dramatic like the war in Iraq, one aide said -- to carry into next year's presidential campaign. He's passed all his phony legislation. He's paid off all his bribes. He's convinced the spiritually challenged he's Jesus. (And if anyone disagrees, there's always Frank Luntz and Bill Schneider and Tim Russert there with a poll to reassure everyone that "America loves George W. Bush".) The economy seems to be picking up (as long as you're not looking for a job), which is to say the stock market is going up. If Bush wanted Saddam's head to avenge the family honor, his victory must bring with it an empty feeling of "Now what?"

So what "Big Idea" has Karl Rove come up with? What is Bush's great new vision?: Curbing malpractice insurance and tort reform.

[m-jean03]

6. One way to ensure he gains momentum

is to put him in a barrel and roll him down a big hill! }( ;-)

[Kanary]

8. I was thinking... Niagara Falls... ^_^ n/t

Kucinich 2004!

[dkamin]

7. Saddam capture a bad thing for BUsh long term

in my opinion.

it effectively "finishes" the last major objective for our invasion of Iraq. Now that we've actually completed our invasion of Iraq, occupied the country, and captured Saddam, there is nothing to look forward to in Iraq. 9 months from now, if Iraqis are still launching guerrilla attacks on US forces, and we have 100K plus troops in Iraq, this Saddam capture looks stupid, because it pierces the myth, which a surprising number of Americans believe, that the attacks are all being launched by Saddam's forces.

if the Iraqis aren't welcoming us with open arms, even after the capture of Saddam, it will open a lot of eyes as to the BS rationale for the Iraq invasion.

to us, it's obvious. to many americans, it's not. but the capture of saddam lays the groundwork for those americans to see that the invasion of iraq was utterly worthless, a waste of lives and money, a sideshow from the war on terror, as Clark put it, and resulting in a quagmire we can't escape from easily.