Bush is in the tank. His approval ratings in the latest polls hover between 37%-42%. For the next 1000 or so days of his term, this country will be looking for its next president and doing its best to ignore its present president.
Where did the political groundswell of his mandate go?
The earth began to slide from beneath his feet with his ill-considered attack on Social Security. Trying to get it to go down the drain of the small government bathtub cost him the approval of voters approaching and living in retirement. Bad error, especially with all the baby boomers who loom on the doorstep of Social Security payouts.
The earth washed away in the inundation of NOLA. Bush’s outright absence combined with Federal agency ineptitude and topped off with summary remarks by rapper Kayne West in response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina cost him the suppport of blacks. One month ago 72% of African-Americans said Bush doesn’t care about them.
Three out of four blacks, one out of four whites, and one out of three people across the country regardless of race actually believe that President Bush doesn’t care about black people.
Today, that approval rating is at an all-time historical low, perhaps a statistical impossibility. But here it is:
President Bush’s job-approval rating among African Americans has dropped to 2 percent, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.WaPo
And the landslide of disapproval continues when two out of three Americans avow their disapproval of Bush’s handling of the Iraq War. The slope has been steadily downward since March of 2003. Only what’s left of the Republican Party neocons think Bush is handling the war well. In fact, 55% of those polled say we shouldn’t have gone to Iraq in the first place.
Dirt is flying all over the place regarding this president.
A Democracy Corps survey finds 58% want to go in a significantly different direction away from Bush; 56% believe he is “in over his head;” and 44% say they are “finished” with him.article
As John Kenneth White says in the above cited article, “Presidency on Life Support,”
If this were a parliamentary system, there would be a vote of no confidence and a new election held.
Does all this dissatisfaction mean Americans want to bury this president and get on with the whoever’s next guy right now? With all that dissing of Dubya, I’m amazed that only 42% want to see him impeached — if he lied about the reasons to go to war in Iraq. Maybe more would like to see him impeached for other reasons like poor leadership and dishonesty
A mid-September Gallup poll finds just 49% think Bush is a strong and decisive leader; in 2001, 61% thought so. Moreover, only 47% say Bush is honest and trustworthy; four years ago, 64% did.
What is clear is that Bush has lost the support of independents and moderates across the board, on any question. To win an election, Democrats need that demographic because neo- and fundycons are not going to cross over and support a Democrat for president. Liberal-Progressive Independent though I am, I doubt the majority of other registered Unaffiliateds align with me. I don’t have to tell you what that means.
The question is, in the next 1000 days will the Democrats come up with a candidate who will have the support and consent of enough of the governed to get elected and last a term (or two). Or has partisanship and the isues of our times made that impossible for any future president?
