And You Thought The Stock Market Was Dropping Fast
July 15, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Another poll, more bad news for President Bush.
The new Washington Post-ABC News poll:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?
7/13/08: Approve 28%, Disapprove 69%
So what’s worse than working in the White House these days? How about working in Congress.
Check out these numbers from the same poll:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Congress is doing its job?
7/13/08: Approve 23%, Disapprove 71%
Ouch! Worse than Bush. That’s tough to do. It gets even, well, worser when you consider the two trend lines.
Bush has basically flatlined — at the bottom
In the February 1 poll he was at 33% approve and 65% disapprove.
Congress, however, was at 33% approve and 59% disapprove, now 71%.
Both are dropping — but Congress seems to be plummeting.
betsybounds said,
July 15, 2008 @ 11:01 pm
Well.
I’m no Bush booster, but I don’t know why anyone would assume the Dems have the upper hand, here. They’ve assumed all they have to do is oppose Bush at every possible turn, and it’s gaining them nothing, and losing them much, They’re playing the political game, thinking that that’s all they need to do. I’m not at all sure this will translate into a Dem victory. They’re playing like losers, thinking that all they need to do is obstruct. I don’t think it will work anywhere near as well for them in November as many people seem to be ready to believe. I don’t know, of course (and neither does anyone else), but the Dems (and their MSM boosters) may be in for as big a surprise as they got in 1994. No one predicted that one, either.
jr said,
July 15, 2008 @ 11:06 pm
Let’s hope you’re right Betsy. These people are deliberately and maliciously ruining our economy and our country.
Greg said,
July 15, 2008 @ 11:14 pm
Not to worry, Jon Stewart will make sure that everyone knows that it is all Bush’s fault.
Pardo said,
July 15, 2008 @ 11:36 pm
It all sounds racist to me, then again I’m voting Obama because he sounds like John Edwards but has a distinctly ethnic middle name which makes him extra extra special. Don’t ask me to explain that name, I would hate to get banned from “IfrackinLOVEObamaTheMessiah.org”.
Dr. Dean said,
July 15, 2008 @ 11:36 pm
jr hit the nail on the head: “These people are deliberately and maliciously ruining our economy and our country.” Congress is politicking while the economy burns. Pelosi, Reid, et al, are deliberately and with malice aforethought doing what they can to wreck our economy for the sake of an election. For all intents and purposes, they might as well be King George and his court because I have never felt more distant from the government of my country than I do right now. I am gaining an ever greater and more concrete understanding of what drove our Founders to revolt against their government.
ligneus said,
July 15, 2008 @ 11:38 pm
Betsy, I’m with you on this, sometimes I feel like the original cockeyed optimist, but I think the Dems are in for a big shock and the MSM who are in the pockets of the lefties will have a few more nails driven into their collective coffin. For more thoughts see what Kyle-Anne Shiver has to say.
AST said,
July 15, 2008 @ 11:49 pm
I think that Americans have become so cynical about government since Vietnam that nobody has confidence in any of our institutions anymore. I grew up before that, and I think that our sense of pride in our country is gone. Between liberals who have greater allegiance to U.N. and conservatives who resent runaway spending and socialism, what’s left for people in the middle to hold onto? By all appearances we’re about to have a choice between Jimmy Carter and Bob Dole for President.
K said,
July 16, 2008 @ 12:05 am
Avoid the fallacy that disapproval of Congress means both parties are blamed equally.
There could be a total landslide for either party even if not one person thought Congress was doing a good job.
Some votes go to the party thought likely to improve matters. Some to punish those blamed for the mess.
I think there will be a Democrat landslide as worried voters buy into the mantra that change, any change, is better than the status quo. That isn’t true of course, or you could just cut off an ear and feel better.
Pat said,
July 16, 2008 @ 12:45 am
“I think there will be a Democrat landslide as worried voters buy into the mantra that change, any change, is better than the status quo.”
Where Congress is concerned, I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. But it seems to me that the logical response is not to vote for Democrats; it’s to vote for challengers. If you want change, get rid of the incumbents, regardless of their party.
K said,
July 16, 2008 @ 2:15 am
Pat, your logic is right. Vote for the challenger. I would say vote for a third party challenger. Totally futile of course but what isn’t in this election.
I’ll write only about the Congress. McCain/Obama is another matter.
I think the Democrats will effectively shout “change, change, change” while the GOP continues to present no message at all.
My contempt for the GOP leaders is total. They offer no reason to vote for a Republican. They are lost, confused, and best put down. Their unforced self-mutilation since 1994 is painful to watch.
The Democrats are at least organized. Ruthlessly so. They will oppose anything likely to improve any matter before election day. The media will again favor them and that will be enough.
Oddly enough I think the best guy in Congress is the old friend of lost boys, Barney Frank. He is very intelligent, works hard, and is rather moderate. No doubt he feels alone in the Capitol.
Joel said,
July 16, 2008 @ 3:07 am
AST mentioned above that “I think that Americans have become so cynical about government since Vietnam that nobody has confidence in any of our institutions anymore.”
I agree and that frightens me more than anything that could happen come election time. What happens when four, or eight, years have passed and congress and the pres still have sub-%30 approval?
R. Ford Mashburn said,
July 16, 2008 @ 4:43 am
Joel asks what happens in four or eight years and the approval numbers haven’t changed (much) ? What happens is political unrest followed by a benevolent dictatorship. Meanwhile, bread and circuses.
E said,
July 16, 2008 @ 6:20 am
Dem’s took over from a failed Repub congress and in 2 1/2 yrs have accomplished exactly nothing. Energy is the number 1 issue and there they sit and dither, heads stuck in the sand, continuing to put the country’s interest at risk, while private citizen T. Boone Pickens has to take the fight to them.
No need to ask why their numbers continue to plummet. You may want to contact them and express your opinion.
http://energy.senate.gov/public/
http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.shtml
Don L said,
July 16, 2008 @ 6:55 am
I’ve misplaced my little copy of the U.S.Constition, does anyone know if an individual can sesede, without Washington sending Sherman and the troops down?
betsybounds said,
July 16, 2008 @ 7:32 am
I’ve been thinking for a while now that, with the 2 elected branches of our government having the awful approval ratings that they do, the very legitimacy of our government is in question, not to say in doubt. What do we do about it? I don’t know. But I don’t think the Dems in Congress are dithering. I think they are actively and consciously engaged in demolishing the Bush presidency, and I think they’ve been at it since Florida 2000. They don’t appear to care that this also means demolishing the country. Can we recover? Who knows? I’m with R. Ford Mashburn, and tangentially (and emotionally) with Don L.
betsybounds said,
July 16, 2008 @ 7:47 am
K,
The Dems are, as you say, shouting “Change! Change! Change!” That is just a bit odd, since they’ve been in charge for 2 years now. I guess they think they are the change they’ve been waiting for.
Kyle Johnson said,
July 16, 2008 @ 8:16 am
Sorry, I can’t provide a site (or cite), but I’ve read that most people, while expressing disapproval of Congress (as a whole), think their own Congresscritter is just fine.
Daniel said,
July 16, 2008 @ 8:31 am
I think there will be a Democrat landslide as worried voters buy into the mantra that change, any change, is better than the status quo.
Well said and, unfortunately, too true. The saddest–and scariest–thing is that the change Obama and his ilk champion is change that could get us killed…and will continue to kill millions of innocent babies.
I know the mention of abortion seems extraneous to this post, but I am deeply concerned at how Obama is trying to tack to the center yet his voting record belies a man who is a fierce radical, one who is even more radical than NARAL! Giving a speech at a Planned Parenthood conference, Obama was asked what the first thing he would do once in office. His answer: “I would sign the Freedom of Choice Act first thing.” FOCA would overturn EVERY ADVANCE in the pro-life movement at the state level since Roe! That’s 35 years of labor towards cultivating a culture of life in America. Doesn’t that scare you?
jblog said,
July 16, 2008 @ 9:34 am
This is only news, frankly, because no one has been reporting it until now.
For the past year, the approval ratings for Congress have consistently trailed the president’s by five to 10 points. Only now is anyone paying attention.
MarkD said,
July 16, 2008 @ 10:31 am
Their hot air will neither heat my house, nor fuel my car. The first party that decides to “drill here, drill now” is going to sweep this thing. We need leadership on energy, not obstruction or hydrogen cars or promises of unicorns on treadmills…
If they had any dignity or honor, they’d all quit. Miserable failure was the right description, it was just applied to the wrong guy. Maybe they can just pass a law setting the price of gas at $1 a gallon, or impeach Bush. They are really into futile and meaningless gestures.
Ryan said,
July 16, 2008 @ 11:07 am
Hey maybe someone should start a non-partisan campaign to throw all of them out. “Vote against the incumbent! Party doesn’t matter anymore. Keep throwing them out until we get some people in there that aren’t corrupt, then throw them out before they get corrupted.” Set a goal if the congressmen has been in office more then 10 years then start a youtube campaign against him.
E said,
July 16, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
The current Congress is the poster child for term limits.
K said,
July 16, 2008 @ 6:04 pm
BetsyB:
Again, assume I mean Congress except when I clearly am discussing presidential politics.
Election slogans don’t have much to do with logic. Dems think “change” will work so they shout it. It smoothly ties in with Obama’s tactics, electing him would be a change. It also ties to the attempt to label McCain as no change at all, the equivalent of a third term for Bush.
Having a good nickname is said to be priceless in politics. I would say having a good slogan brings in many enthusiastic but less analytic voters - people who simply don’t follow issues closely.
The Dem leaders today are shrewd politicians. The Dems tossed out in 1994 had grown lazy and careless - after all their party had dominated since 1932. People also forget that 1994 didn’t just happen, the GOP had been inching toward power for over a decade before 1994.
Many voters tend to think of the President as the lead actor and Congress as second lead. As long as Bush is in office he will be blamed for any woe and the GOP will be blamed with him. And we know how the media handles matters.
Can “drill, drill, drill” can trump “change, change, change” as MarkD believes? We must all guess. But oil carries the burden of CO2 AGW, the media keeps saying it won’t help anyway, and some people believe the big oil company conspiracy allegation. Those are tough handicaps.
In contrast “change” totes no baggage, says nothing, and seems pleasant.
Kev said,
July 17, 2008 @ 1:24 am
Sorry, I can’t provide a site (or cite), but I’ve read that most people, while expressing disapproval of Congress (as a whole), think their own Congresscritter is just fine.
This is true, and it’s why we have such a rotten Congress at the moment. We need to vote them all out, and then institute term limits not only for them, but for their bureaucrats as well. Nobody should spend more than 10-12 years in government. After that time, they have to go out and find an occupation that actually produces something. If that’s beyond their capabilities, then it’s back to school (or behind the counter at McDonald’s) for them.