poll that show Bush ahead of Kerry )well actually neck and neck when you consider the margin or error) This will correct itself as Nader is runnning but finding himself unable to come up with enough signatures to actually get an the ballot in any state so far.
More important for Kerry are the polls which indicate whetther the nation is on the right or the wrong track, and those polls are dismal for Bush right now:
Gallup Poll. March 8-11, 2004. N=1,005 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.
.
"In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time?"
Satisfied Dissatisfied No Opinion
% % %
3/8-11/04 39 60 1
2/9-12/04 45 54 1
1/12-15/04 46 53 1
1/2-5/04 55 43 2
12/11-14/03 50 48 2
11/3-5/03 44 54 2
10/6-8/03 41 57 2
9/8-10/03 40 58 2
8/4-6/03 46 52 2
http://www.pollingreport.com/right.htmhttp://www.pollingreport.com/right.htmAnd even more critical is that most Americans beleive that Iraq will deteriorate into civil war when we pull out of that nation:
University of Pennsylvania National Annenberg Election Survey. March 1-15, 2004. N=2,575 adults nationwide. MoE ± 2 (total sample). Interviewing conducted by Schulman, Ronca, Bucuvalas, Inc.
.
"All in all, do you think the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over, or not?"
.
Worth It Not
Worth It
% %
ALL 46 49
Republicans 78 18
Democrats 24 70
Independents 45 50
.
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is currently handling the situation in Iraq?"
.
Approve Disapprove
% %
ALL 47 49
Republicans 79 20
Democrats 22 74
Independents 49 47
http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htmOverall, there is a greater degree of disaproval of the presidents handling of Foreign affairs in particular Iraq.
Bush is attempting to ride on the 9/11 fear, but if Iraq crumbles into civil war, or if the U.S. must remain past June 30th to prevent that from happening, confidence in Bush's leadership will erode even further.The Bush administration will only be able to use the very tenuous and dopubtful links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda Terrorism so ling. The longer terrorist attacks continue, in Iraq, and in Europe, while Saddam languises in prison, the more certain that going to Iraq was an act which diverted resources that would better serve national security by beingh used elsewhere will become certain. The more bomibings occur in Iraq itself, and elsewhere, the more impitent the administrations policy on handling terrorism will seem. Every attack will generate the fear that we will be next, and those responsible for the atacks will still be roaming free, while hundreds of billioons will be wasted in a place that has no part in these events. This will be Kerrys strong card to play as the general election gets closer. He will begin to play it after June 30th passes and play it hard if Osama bin Laden still remains free.
What is even more of an indication that the Republicans are in serious trouble is that no incumbent has ever trailed his opponent as much as Bush is trailing Kerry in most polls, or even been in a posiyion in the polls where the popularity of the incumbent was this low so early in the season. Bush's popularity if far lower than either Clinton's or Reagans, or even his fathers was this early in the campaign, and the fact that they are now pulling out Cheney who' popularity is tracking in the low to mid thirties is a real indication of the fear that Kerry will win. They can only run so far on national security, and given the ease of the way in which terrorists acted in Madrid, the falling by thr wayside of Spain as a support for the Bush adminstration can only be portrayed as giving in to AL Qaeda for so long, and soon the interpretation of it as a decision to go after the real threat to the world rather than being bogged down in Iraq, which now and never posed the kind of threat that Al Qaeda did will be to the Bush Administrations detriment. It will only take one more major terrorist attack on a U.S. ally in Iraq for the failuire of the Bush Administration to deal with terrorism to be seen as very real and tangible.