Political jockeying
President Bush “is sinking deeper and deeper into political trouble,” according to the latest Newsweek poll. “Only 36 percent of Americans approve of the job he is doing as president, and an astounding 68 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country — the highest in Bush’s presidency.”
But Bush’s job isn’t up for reconsideration like Congress, and they may have more cause to worry. For the first time since 1994, a majority of voters would like to see their individual member of Congress defeated for re-election.
On the other hand, this dismal showing by the GOP does not yet seem to have influenced fundraising efforts. The Republican National Committee has out-raised Howard Dean’s DNC two to one, and has five times as much money on hand.
7 Responses to “Political jockeying”
Bad year for the republicans, undoubtedly. They might fail to increase their majority next year, and perhaps the Senate may fall, temporarily, to Democratic hands. I suspect, however, that this year’s woes will fade by election time, which is still a long way off in political terms. By that time, American phenomenon of national election year mass paranoia will have set in. It will be widely suspected that the dreaded liberals have siezed the society; this siezure will have caused moral rot, even at the highest levels of power. Ethical lapses even within the president’s administration will be blamed on the liberal stench surrounding Washington that seems to intoxicate and corrupt even honest Christian men like Karl Rove. A fight with gay marriage enthusiasts will help – a fight against anyone will help, since the fight in Iraq is no longer helping. Attacking scientists who study evolution or early cellular differentiation will help bring some voters on board, too. The victories gained by the help I’ve mentioned, unfortunately for the GOP, may not last. A truly solid national majority cannot be built on paranoia, hatred of science and other religious fundamentalism, and homophobia because most Americans are not paranoid, homophobic religious fundamentalists. That description doesn’t fit most Republicans, either – certainly no Republican I’ve met – so it is quite jarring to see a party in a country split nearly exactly down the middle pimping itself to such morons to split the scale.
Speaking of paranoia and conspiracy theorizing…
Didn’t the GOP beat the Democrats 3-1 during the last few years?
“In the previous election cycle, the DNC had raised $31 million, compared with the RNC’s $80 million, at this point in 2003 [...]
So Dean has cut the RNC’s traditional 3-1 advantage (or more) in fundraising to a 2-1 advantage and raised $11 million more than McAuliffe raised in 2003. Not to mention that Dean’s numbers come the year after a presidential election — the worst political fundraising time possible, while McAuliffe’s came during the presidential cycle. Meanwhile, the RNC has remained static.”
Bush has plenty to worry even though his job is not up for re-election. At this point, he has no legacy, will be a lame duck, and very well may be recognized as one of the worst presidents of the US. Additionally, as dissatisfied people are with the GOP, if the Dems manage to take things over, they would probably start impeachment proceedings. Although they would be unsuccesful, they would just add to the embarassment.
Impeachment proceedings? Why remove the albatross from around the Republican neck? That goes for Dick “19%” Cheney, too.
Regarding Chuck’s comment about Karl Rove being an “honest Christian man”….please do some research on this Chuck. Mr. Rove has built his career on smearing political opponents with lies and half-truths…he is the master of deception and dirty tricks. I do not understand how that makes him an “honest Christian man”.
Regarding Joshua’s post regarding the popularity of the President and Congress, I should first disclose that I am neither Republican nor Democrat, I’m an independent. It is apparent that the public is not happy with current trends on core issues such as education, health care, foreign policy, and the bugeoning budget and trade deficits. Because Republicans have held sway in the legislative branch for over 10 years and the presidency for last 5, they stand to take the biggest hit, although the Democrats will certainly not escape some of the blame.
And yet, as Joshua pointed out, the Republicans continue to far outpace Democrats in fund-raising. The answer, I believe is simple. If you look at the beneficiaries of our current policies, corporate interests are at the top of the list. They are able to channel huge amounts of dollars through PACs. To corporate interests, the Republicans have proven themselves as steady and reliable proponents of their interests, including gutting environmental regulations, worker health and safety, union busting, tax concessions, and huge government contracts, to name a few.
As I said, I’m no Democrat so please don’t assume that I think the answer is electing all Democrats. I would like to see voters reward honest politicians with the integrity to tell it like it is, even if it isn’t what we want to hear. Until that happens, we’ll be awash in amoral politicans who are beholden to special interests, who feed us lies, and accuse anyone who stands up to them of being “traitors”.
God Bless Us All!