May 14 2008
Time To Dump All Incumbents
What we need in DC is a house cleaning. Need to get rid of the dead end hyper partisans and find new leaders who can champion their causes without slandering their opponents (inside and outside of their parties). The dysfunctional set of leaders we have now are the problem, not the solution. And it seems America is ready to clean house:
The approval rating of the U.S. Congress dropped to near-record levels and is lower than U.S. President George Bush’s mark, a Gallup poll indicates.
The telephone survey of 1,017 U.S. adults indicates 18 percent of those interviewed May 8-11 approve of the current Congress. The score matches record lows from similar Gallup polls in August 2007 and March 1992.
Gallup said Wednesday the reason for the low approval rating is because “rank-and-file Democrats are providing no support cushion for the Democratic-controlled institution.”
The same poll indicated approval ratings of Bush hover around his record lows, with 29 percent of respondents voicing support for the president.
Bush is leaving without a doubt – now the only question is will the American people dump incumbents from both sides of the aisle or not?
AJ,
“The same poll indicated approval ratings of Bush hover around his record lows, with 29 percent of respondents voicing support for the president.”
Let’s see…a moderate Republican president with a 29% approval rating…And this proves that the country is moving more to the center how ?
Whippet1,
So, you want to pick up where 75 left off?
It is simple – that 30% approval rating is people like me, well right of center, but still out of the fringes. The democrats and center left hate Bush and they are 45% of the opposition.
That leaves the fringe right who have waged the purity wars and undecideds (10%). The fringe right is not really 15%, much less, but they are much smaller than the right of center group, which is why Tancredo is not the nominee for the GOP president and why Davis is not now heading to Congress from MI.< If the GOP candidate is more towards the center he can go head to head with the dems (McCain is doing very well against Obama and Clinton, he should be 10+points behind this early). If the GOP candidate goes too far right and a centrist democrat is the opponent the moderate right goes with the moderate left. This happened in MI yesterday. Bush is equally unpopular with both the left and right fringe - which of course makes him a centrist and the choice of those who chose who wins elections. Will the conservatives figure this out? Not with their egos set they way they are now.
AJ,
Sure, I’ll offer my difference of opinion with you unless of course an echo chamber is what you’re wanting. You’re all about compromise so where is it?
And it’s not as simple as you think…I’m also one of that 30% approval rating and I’m further right than you but of course you see me on the fringes because I disagree with you on immigration. Who’s purging now?
“Will the conservatives figure this out? Not with their egos set they way they are now.”
Will you?
Just another opinion out there on the issue:
http://www.macsmind.com/wordpress/2008/05/14/childers-win-not-a-indication-of-jack-squat/
I look at these statistics as indicating that the stupidity quotient is down to 18% which is a great thing. Who can honestly say they approve of congress other than those who don’t want to see anything done—-wait maybe they are the real smart ones afterall.
In any event, as much as I would throw the whole lot of them out and start over, it will never happen because of the way the two parties have effectively divided the voting population by its stance on the issues of import. There is too much economics in the current status to fight and our flaky electorate can’t look far enough into the future to make any truly intelligent decisions (look at the fact that we have such a low savings rate in this country—-a sign of greed and laziness).
The voices on the far left and right are the voices that are heard all the time on cable and through MSM. They serve the media’s hysterical reaction to everything, not unlike the 60’s and the voices against VietNam, the voices on college campuses. Emotion sells, facts are boring.
I think that the President has been very reasonable on most issues. If the voices of facts had been in support of the president and heard, the situation would be very different.
Lowering taxes to grow an economy is not ideological point of view. It is a proven fact.
Trying to make our schools accountable to tax payers is hardly ideological. Vouchers to go along with no child left behind would have been the best solution, dems would never agree.
A 30% drop in our own energy supply, with 40% gain in usage, requires an energy plan. The President worked on one and presented it. Dead in the water, why? Well once the President was an oil man. There is an interim solution to gas prices, drill while we are trying to invent hydro and a multitude of other solutions. If oil countries knew we were serious about drilling the price of oil would go right down.
The war fighting is self explanatory, so is FISA and all the other policies the President put into place since 911.
The comprehensive immigration plan was not a bad compromise, but who did the right hear from to the exclusion, Milkin, Hunter, Tancredo, and all the other we don’t have a plan but we sure hate this one.
When the President can’t be heard through the media we get what Hillary is suffering now.
Kathie, you make many valid points that support the reason conservatives don’t compromise on certain issues…because they are “proven facts” and not “idealogical points.” One of those “facts” is so profound that it is an adage now, “Abandon your conservative base at your own peril.” I can only hope and pray the republican party hasn’t forgotten this golden rule again but given their history, and what I hear in this forum, it appears they have…again.
I hate those approve/disapprove polls since they only can claim to tell you the amount in lockstep.
Disapproval can mean you want stronger action not move to the center.
It’s a binary choice for the most part and one or two differences of opinion on specific issues can trigger a disapprove since it is the only choice.
It has to be read along with other issue related questions to develop a context, but that one question stand alone is like trying to nail jello to a tree.
Unfortunately, at least as of now, it seems the only people getting dumped are republicans. It seems the dems are getting a pass.
This from Dennis Prager today:
“If On the Wrong Track, Why Go Left?”
http://dennisprager.townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2008/05/13/if_on_the_wrong_track,_why_go_left?page=1
Merlin,
You’re absolutely right on the polls…
Not to mention that we really have no idea who is polled. I’ve been polled once in my life, for local candidates and it was an obvious push poll biased in favor of the democrat. Why no other polling calls?
“…Need to get rid of the dead end hyper partisans and find new leaders who can champion their causes without slandering their opponents (inside and outside of their parties)…”
so you’ll be giving up your blog?
Read the rest at “Floppingaces” very interesting!
14
May
Sobering View of the Origins and Purpose of Current Islamic Terrorism
Posted by: ChrisG @ 10:19 am in Anti-Americanism, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, Military, War On Terror
Visited 44 times, 44 so far today
Lt. General Ion Mihai Pacepa is the highest-ranking intelligence officer ever to have defected from the former Soviet bloc. This article from National Review was written after the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict in 2006.
In light of the resurgence of a militaristic Russia and Putin’s continued quest for power combined with General Pacepa’s descriptions of Soviet, and now Russian actions, this article needs to be read again.
Russian Footprints
What does Moscow have to do with the recent war in Lebanon?
The answer, Kathie, is Syria, of course.
I put those ‘wrong track’ polls right along side the ‘approve/disapprove’ polls.
The terms are so generic that it gives you little to no grasp of what the point of difference is.
I always post about the people who claim everyone not in full support of position must be opposed.
No you have to look at what percent are fully opposed. All to often these things get spun as any degree of disagreement no matter how minor is attempted to be wrongly grouped as support for total rejection.
That is just plain bunk.
“…Need to get rid of the dead end hyper partisans and find new leaders who can champion their causes without slandering their opponents (inside and outside of their parties)…â€
so you’ll be giving up your blog?
Left by norm on May 14th, 2008
As painful and sickening as this is to say….Good one, Norm.
Nice try, AJ, but that is not going to happen. While its true that Congress has abominable ratings, a large majority of people think the way to FIX Congress is to elect more Democrats. And by 53-32%, Americans trust the Democrats to do a better job than Republicans.
The recent results in Mississippi, when a Republican in a +10 Red congressional district gothis butt kicked is just a harbinger of things to come.
With Bob Barr running on Liberterian and Ron Paul plotting some serious hijinks, Conservatives can look forward to the worst election for them since 1964.
All thanks to George W. Bush, who Republican Lincoln Chafee has properly identified as the worst president in history. Period.
Whoever pushes for term limits will sweep all before him.
Polls are very subjective and they can mean what you want them to mean. But I do think the country is moving to the center. I think that people are tired of the fringes.
This happens, people swing back and forth and often times settle in the center. I think that people can not even decide on what conservative always is.
I think you all are misreading the politcal shift occuring right now. It is not a movement to the center, it is a clear movement to the left.
If it were a movement to the center, both parties would be experiencing the same problems and we would likely see people gravitating to independent candidates. That is not what is happening. The GOP is the only one that is being weakened. Voting numbers, funding, election results, you name it – they have all been steadily decreasing for the GOP. Meanwhile, the Democrats are getting stronger by all of these same measures. People are not gravitating to independent candidates or movements – they are gravitating to the Democratic candidates. Most Democrats that are frustrated with the new Democratic controlled Congress are not mad because they are acting too liberal, they are mad because they have been ineffective in reversing Bush/GOP policies (Iraq, FISA, etc.).
While people are generally tired of too much partisanship in politics, that is not the reason they are abandoning the GOP. I think there are two primary reasons.
First, the GOP failed to adhere to traditional conservative principles when the finally consolidated power. The GOP didn’t adhere to core traditional conservative principles such as fiscal restraint (Bush and the GOP Congress had record earmarks, spending, deficiets, etc.), limited government (Bush significantly expanded and consolidated power into the exective branch, expanded surveillence powers, etc.), restrained foreign policy (Iraq) and competency (Katrina, Iraq and the current recession killed that myth). I think people finally realized that the GOP leaders were frauds – they didn’t adhere to any of these core principles when they got in power and they couldn’t deliver on their promises.
Second, people began to realize that the wedge issues the GOP have relied on so heavily are not that important in their day-to-day lives. While you may have strong opinions about abortion, gays, religious freedoms, these issues do not impact our day-to-day lives as much as health care, the economy, etc. Those are the issues that most Americans are increasingly concerned about, and those are the issues that the Democrats are focusing on.
The country had been moving to the right since Reagan and took a harder right since 2000. The pendulum is simply swinging back to the left.