I'm heading to Ireland for the weekend, but I may get a chance to do a post or two from there.
In the meantime, I'll satisfy the "Republicans are stupid" category for the next few days with this utter demolition of Michelle Malkin's credibility as a 'journalist'
And here are some badass poll numbers.
Public believes CIA leak more serious than Watergate, Iran Contra, or Monica Lewinsky/Watergate
and
If it becomes clear Alito would vote to reverse Roe v. Wade, Americans would not want the Senate to confirm him, by 53% to 37%.
O, and Bush is now at 35% approval rating according to CBS.
i'd probably do michelle malkin, but it'd be really angry-like. maybe that would make it more fun, though, i dunno.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the significance of Bush's low approval rating?
ReplyDeleteI know that it means something, but I'm not entirely sure what.
He's not running for reelection. Unlike Bill Clinton in his second term, he doesn't have someone (like Al Gore) hoping to ride his coattails into the presidency for 2008. I remember in 2000, Al Gore was awkwardly trying to associate himself with the better aspects of Clinton's presidency while distancing himself from the president's personal moral failings. I don't see a similar situation arising in 2008 for someone else.
Maybe he'll have a harder time pushing his policies through Congress and "maintaining party discipline," but there aren't many signs of that yet, with the possible exception of Harriet Miers.
Maybe it'll make things tougher for Republicans in the 2006 and 2008 elections, but I'm not sure that will happen. Bush has managed to get the Republicans to go along with him while still looking like something of a "Lone Ranger." I don't see the voters taking out their disapproval of Bush on someone like Frist or Brownback or Santorum when it's reelection time. Maybe I'm mistaken about this. (Santorum deserves to lose for reasons unrelated to Bush)
The 35%-and-declining figure, assuming its accuracy, is striking, but I'm not sure what to make of it.
On the other stuff, I don't think it's all that badass. The public often believes that whatever is currently in the headlines is of greater magnitude than controversies from 5-30 years ago. Every time a sports team or a player is playing especially well, there's talk of "best ever," every time Billboard or MTV makes a list of the best songs ever, recent stuff is disproportionately represented. The CIA leak poll is a predictable pattern of human psychology.
actually, if you actually looked at the polls, you will see that a greater proportion of Americans at this time think that it is a serious matter compared to Americans polled at the time of Watergate, Lewinsky, etc.
ReplyDelete