When you're the Lord's Chosen Instrument, you don't need any level of support in the polls for your agenda. You just know you're right.
Bush's number one problem is he believes his own press...
America's number one problem is that 100% of 35% of the country is enough to govern with, if the 35% angry enough or drunk on Jesus enough.
History is replete with examples of committedd minorities rolling majorities who really couldn't care less....
Posted by Davis X. Machina at July 27, 2005 01:56 PMWill Bush's numbers go up or down if he, via that lickspittle Pat Roberts, is able to work an immunity deal for Rove, Libby and others? Check this out:
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/011654.html
Let's hope the CIA has more ammo up their sleeve.
Posted by rj at July 27, 2005 01:56 PMMajorities of those polled support 24 hr waiting periods and parental noticification, and believe partial birth abortion should be illegal. There may not be a majority to make abortion illegal, but these polls indicate majorities in favor of restrictions on abortion.
Posted by at July 27, 2005 02:10 PMYour last question was a good one. The truth is that the Republican control of Congress is the only thing between Bush and a complete collapse of his power. They're propping him up, but only by playing defense twenty-four hours a day. Hackett is the point of a wedge that can cleave Bush from his support in Congress, so everyone should be pushing and pushing hard to help Hackett win. If you live in Ohio, kick ass.
Posted by Horizon at July 27, 2005 02:17 PMThe majority of Americans also believe in gun control.
Posted by at July 27, 2005 02:23 PMThat can only mean that it must be time for another terrorist attack on the Homeland...
buckle up kiddies...cornered dogs and all...
Mr. 41% has no capital, but that won't stop him.
Posted by Judith at July 27, 2005 02:46 PMLook out! Another 9/11 is looking pretty much inevitable. These bastards have to do something to get our attention off of their crimes and support the nuking of Teheran.
Posted by Vinnie at July 27, 2005 02:56 PMBushCo also has our pathetic mainstream media in its back pocket. That, IMHO, is the biggest problem we face.
Posted by global yokel at July 27, 2005 03:40 PMWhich raises the question: exactly how much political capital does a 41% president have to demand anything?
Well, He will certainly not agree with your assessment of Him as a 41% president. (Only liberals put stock in polls whose results don't synch with Reality, remember?) Thus He no doubt retains, in His mind anyway, the mandate to do whatever He wishes to do.
Posted by stvwlf at July 27, 2005 03:52 PMWhy are the democrats acting like he has a 98% approval? These dems are cowardly corporate whores!
Posted by jj at July 27, 2005 03:57 PMI like Bush much better at 41%. That's about right. Kinda like having him by the short hairs. And, when he's at 41%, republican congressmembers will be bush whoing me firsting all over the place.
Posted by ken melvin at July 27, 2005 04:04 PMOnce he gets Roberts confirmed, Roberts can rule that those unconstitutional laws the zany Repub congress passes are not within the purview of the court. Roberts thinks things like abortion, busing, school prayer( privacy, equality under the law, separation of church and state) are not issues that the courts should review so presto , the president can demand anything and get it. (If these strict constructionists take over- we might as well go back to the original constitution where women don't vote and blacks are 3/5 of a person-gotta uphold the white male aristocracy)Just like he got dictatorial CIC power from Roberts the friday before the announcement. Weaken the courts so much that we have no right of review. Give all power to the executive and have the repug stepford congress full of Coburns and Santorums pass whatever you want passed. We can't stop this confirmation, but we could scream loud and long to let the public realize what they are getting.
Posted by emeldir at July 27, 2005 05:35 PMUnfortunately you're still talking as though citizens matter in this process.
Bush's approval rating is not the pertinent point when talking about Congress. What matters to Congresspeople is gathering enough campaign money to run a decent campaign, and avoiding having a tightly organized smear campaign directed at you. Bush's power doesn't come from his approval ratings with citizens - we are almost entirely irrelevant, just like the workers in his company and the soldiers in the services. Workers don't matter to neocons, investors matter.
Among campaign investors (big contributors), Bush's approval rating is still solid. And so, the machinery works. His approval rating among citizens could be 15% and it wouldn't matter a bit.
Posted by raisin at July 27, 2005 06:43 PMThere is some merit in what you have said, raisin, but one thing that may impact the situation is those who wish to be next in '08. They most surely are paying attention to the polls and will soon enough be positioning themselves in a "better" light.
Refering back to the anon post regarding abortion, some limits on abortion are reasonable. But privacy rights must be maintained. It is clear that there would be fewer abortions if safeguards for accidental pregnancies were more widely available. If the reasonable middle on this issue were just listened to, we could get beyond it and on to more pressing issues.
Posted by caroline at July 27, 2005 07:17 PMstvwlf's post
Well, He will certainly not agree with your assessment of Him as a 41% president. (Only liberals put stock in polls whose results don't synch with Reality, remember?) Thus He no doubt retains, in His mind anyway, the mandate to do whatever He wishes to do.
Are we talking about Jesus, or Bush?
Posted by the professor at July 28, 2005 05:37 AMAre we talking about Jesus, or Bush?
Posted by the professor at July 28, 2005 05:37 AM
There is no difference, as far as the Repugnicants are concerned.
Posted by (: Tom :) at July 28, 2005 06:06 AM41% works when there is no opposition. At this point the DC Democrats can't seem to get it together enough to hold as a coalition when 70% of the public supports the basic Democratic position. It takes more than a solid majority to win -- leaders are also required and we don't have any.
Posted by Marie at July 28, 2005 10:25 AMMarie is right....without a united opposition, 41% works very well. The Dems got their back up in the Social Security fight, and since have chosen to return to the world of the Meek. In the end, there are two things that matter: the 06 congressional elections -where we can put the brakes on this garbage train, and exactly how close to those elections will Bush airlift 100,000 GI's out of Iraq and call the war won, again. If America lets the second event trump the first, it's over.
Posted by T2 at July 28, 2005 01:14 PMMoney is a Republican's heart's desire. Large corporations give hundreds of millions to the Republicans. The true reason why Roberts and his ilk believe in limiting the Court's powers is because only the federal government is strong enough to regulate multinational, enormous corporations. States, even monster California, are just to small. Wipe out the Supreme Court's powers and the corporations have a free hand. Issues like privacy, abortion, school prayer, etc. are just fluff. Repug's buddies, the huge corps, run the show.
Posted by dn4v at August 1, 2005 11:10 PMAfter living outside the US for a few years now, the state of US politics saddens me more than when I lived there. The democrats are weak and disunified. The republicans, well, I needn't go there. The real issue is the fact that they feel they can use women's bodies as a political tool for election. Handmaids Tale, anyone?
Posted by Lisa H. in Kiel, Germany at August 2, 2005 01:18 AM