POLL: AMERICA IS A SUCKY PLACE TO LIVE RIGHT NOW
This is one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen in a political poll. It beats the 90% approval rating of Bush after 9/11 and even surpasses the 60+% support Clinton enjoyed even after it was revealed he is a snivelling liar.
No less than 82% of the American people think the country is on the wrong track.
Public disgruntlement neared a record high and President Bush slipped to his career low in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.
Eighty-two percent of Americans now say the country’s seriously off on the wrong track, up 10 points in the last year to a point from its record high in polls since 1973. And 31 percent approve of Bush’s job performance overall, while 66 percent disapprove.
The country’s mood — and the president’s ratings — are suffering from the double whammy of an unpopular war and a faltering economy. Consistently for the last year, nearly two-thirds of Americans have said the war in Iraq was not worth fighting. And consumer confidence is near its lowest in weekly ABC News polls since late 1985.
Bush’s approval rating has been extraordinarily stable — before today’s 31 percent it had been 32 percent or 33 percent in nine ABC/Post polls from July through last month. In presidential approval polls by Gallup since 1934, just three presidents have gone lower: Jimmy Carter, who bottomed out at 28 percent approval in July 1979; Richard Nixon, 24 percent in July and August 1974; and Harry Truman, 22 percent in February 1952.
Don’t talk to me about the poll’s internals or bias. Are you paying attention? 82% of your fellow countrymen think that America is a sucky place to live right now.
Holy Jesus! You can’t get 82% of Americans to agree about anything. I’ll bet less than 82% of Americans like chocolate ice cream. I would wager that less than 82% of Americans like McDonalds hamburgers. And I’d bet the farm that less than 82% of Americans like old re-runs of The Carol Burnett Show even though I believe you have to be brain dead not to recognize its brilliance.
About the only thing that 82% of Americans might agree on is that they like sex. I asked Sue if she thought that was true:
ME: Hon, do you think more than 82% of Americans like sex?
SUE: (Glaring at me) What is this, a trick question?
ME: No dear, it’s just that 82% of Americans think we’re on the wrong track in this country and I was trying to think of something else 82% of Americans would agree on.
SUE:
ME: Well?
SUE: Are you talking about like, sex in general or like sex with a specific individual?
ME: Um…do I want to know the answer to that?
SUE: (Eyes Gleaming) If you got 3 minutes, I’ll tell ya…
Ouch.
Think about it for a second. There were certainly less than 82% of colonists who supported the idea of independence. And there were quite a bit fewer than 82% of citizens who thought the Constitution was a great idea. Hell, I doubt whether 82% of early Americans agreed on whether pissing in chamber pots was a good idea.
And what of George Bush’s approval ratings? It’s not that only 31% think he’s doing a swell job that concerns me. It’s the fact that 31% of my fellow countrymen think that George Bush is doing a good job and could tell a pollster that with a straight face. (As many as all that? They can’t all be watching Fox News, can they? If they did, Fox would be outperforming American Idol in the Nielsons.)
I wonder if pollsters are taking into account the “Comedian Factor” - people who get asked whether Bush is doing a good job and think the question is a joke, replying in-kind.
POLLSTER: One last question sir…Do you approve or disapprove of the way President Bush is doing his job?
VOTER: (Snickering) Oh yeah, uh-huh…um, right. Great job, Georgie - keep up the good work (breaks into peals of laughter).
POLLSTER: Oooookay…I’ll take that as a yes.
There is so much bad news for Republicans in this poll, if I were McCain I would demand to be listed on the ballot with an “M” after my name (”Maverick”) rather than an “R” which by election time people are going to think stands for “Rat.” If I were a GOP Congressman or Senator up for re-election, I just might change my party affiliation to “Wiccan.”
At least then I’d get some of the pagan vote.
All is not yet lost, however. A photo may emerge depicting Obama in some kind of a compromising situation - like saluting the flag or putting his hand over his heart while singing the national anthem. No doubt legions of lefties would drop him like yesterday’s edition of The Daily Worker thus handing the election to…Bob Barr who would then legalize marijuana and America would go on a four year stoner holiday.
The way to look at this kind of outrageously bad news if you’re a Republican and/or conservative (the two are not mutually exclusive) is either find it amusing or tragic. Once Obama is elected and the Democrats are firmly ensconced in Washington, we will have plenty of time for tragedy. For now, let us laugh at the fools, the charlatans, the incompetent boobs, the crooks, the pederasts, the scumball, grasping, conniving, two timing, philistines who have brought us to this historic level of shame.
UPDATE: THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMIN’
Did I include “inept” in my list above? I knew I was forgetting something…
Conservatives have spent the entire campaign season eviscerating Democrat candidates who’ve tattooed themselves with the empty “change” slogan. So what do the brain-dead strategists and p.r. market wizards of the GOP go and do?
Wrap themselves in “change.”
What about self-preservation? What about sovereignty? What about consistent adherence to constitutional principles?
Nope. We get more insipid “change.”
The crack research staff at GOP HQ somehow missed that “Change You Deserve” is the marketing slogan for Effexor, an anti-depressant.
Brilliant.
The GOP lemmings deserve everything they’re going to get in November.
Obama was sighted wear a flag lapel pin in West Virginia yesterday. But no one has reported if it had 57 stars yet.
Comment by retire05 — 5/13/2008 @ 2:03 pm
That’s not a legit poll–it’s ABC propaganda. As for Bush, he got the two most important things right–terrorism and Supreme Court appointments– things even the sainted Reagan got wrong.
Comment by The Count — 5/13/2008 @ 2:16 pm
I would find it of great interest as to what people think is the right track. As to the (R) brand, it’s time to spend some quality, and quantity, time in the woodshed. I can hardly believe Larry Craig is still in office, with no pressure from the party.
Comment by Allen — 5/13/2008 @ 2:41 pm
Rick, if you ever run a little low on topics, it would be interesting to get your take on how conservatism moved from intelligent, committed politicans like Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan (didn’t agree with a lot of their positions, but admired their abilities and principled approaches to governance)to the people representing conservatism in politics today? You have discussed this in parts over time (religious overreach, etc.), but your perspective on this issue in one article would be valuable. Conservatism and liberalism both serve their purposes in America and I am one liberal who wishes for a better brand of conservative politicians. If we understand the mistakes made, then perhaps those can be avoided in the future.
Comment by Still Liberal — 5/13/2008 @ 3:26 pm
Please consider this analysis: ignore the Democrat’s opinion of Bush- they have loathed him ever since he “stole” the election in 2000. That 49% always has and always will disapprove of anything he does. However, as a conservative, there are still plenty of valid reasons for Bush to be unpopular: bigger government, massive deficit spending, and soft immigration enforcement.
Unfortunately, those are not the predominate reasons that most conservatives I know disapprove of him- they point to the war and the economy (particularly the sub-prime mortgage debacle). The question I have is why these two issues? Didn’t most of us sign up for this war? Don’t we believe that Bush acted on information that, at the time, was believed to be factual? Is it the President’s fault that people make bad financial decisions and overextend themselves? Is the executive branch supposed to regulate who Bear-Stearns invests in?
The sad part isn’t that the media hates Bush so much (they don’t even attempt to conceal it). The sad part is that intelligent conservatives allow themselves to be brainwashed by a liberal, biased, hateful dreadnaught called the mainstream media.
The war could most definitely been prosecuted more adroitly, but isn’t that true of every war? As far as the mortgage crisis goes, “suck it up” as Malkin says- it’s not Bush’s fault.
All I ask of my conservative friends is that they make sure they disapprove of Bush for the right (conservative ) reasons, not because the mainstream media wants you to hate him.
Comment by Michael B. — 5/13/2008 @ 4:35 pm
Yes but they don’t ask WHY folks think the country is on the wrong track or what they’d consider right; and they don’t ask what aspects of the Bush presidency they dislike. If anyone asked me, I’d say we’re on the wrong track and Bush is doing a lousy job. But I’d say that because I think we’re going too far toward socialism, have grown government when we should have shrunk it and Bush has caved to the left much too much and has failed to secure our borders. I doubt I’m the only one who’d answer the poll on that basis.
None of which is to suggest that Republicans aren’t in trouble…. but those polls don’t necessarily prove it.
Comment by Nik — 5/13/2008 @ 4:40 pm
There apparently are a lot of Americans who never experienced the direction of the country during the period 1976-1980.
Comment by vnjagvet — 5/13/2008 @ 4:53 pm
Yeah, the stock market is still hovering around all-time highs. Unemployment is at historically low levels. Home ownership is still at very high levels and guess what? Many of those who own homes will find that in the past 10 years, their homes values have doubled, if not tripled.
Scary, scary, scary stuff.
We’ve become a nation of whiners. Pure and simple. I see people driving better cars, watching better TVs, having more leisure time to pursue happiness. Yet, we’re all miserable?
I don’t think so.
From Gallup:
>>December 31, 2007
Most Americans “Very Satisfied” With Their Personal Lives
Slim majority also say they are “very happy” at this time….
More than 8 in 10 Americans say they are satisfied with their personal lives at this time, including a solid majority who say they are “very satisfied.”>>
http://tinyurl.com/yrg7aw
It’s not that people don’t like or disagree with Bush, but it’s the drippingly smug and dismissive way in which they do.
In addition to whiners, we’ve also become a nation of know-it-all petulant little girls. Waah! Bush made mistakes! Waah! Rumself this. Waah! Cheney that! Oh, brother, give me a break.
And, oh, yeah, I don’t watch Fox News. (Though I am a little bit bitter, but it has more to do with personal failings rather than immigration issues.)
Comment by Whatever — 5/13/2008 @ 9:04 pm
Wrong track could meam anything and those that disapprove of President Bush do so for different reasons.I think we need to be more robust in dealing with foreign nations which is quite the opposite of liberal thought,I disapprove of the POTUSs lackluster response to an attack on our homeland and would have approved of a nuclear response,I lost my hopes for this CinC soon into his first term after he allowed the Chinese to hold US airmen for weeks then offered an “apology” for their wong wei pilot ramming our aircraft in international airspace,different perspective and same response to a question that is interpreted as meaning “WE SURRENDER” to the obtuse.
Comment by M. Wilcox — 5/13/2008 @ 11:04 pm
I once was polled. The poller asked questions like:
Pollster: Do you think the country is goin in the right direction?
Me: What do you mean by “right” direction?
P: You have to answer “yes” or “no”.
Me: Then “somewhat”.
P: No, you have to answer “yes” or “no”. Do you want to pass that question?
Me: Yes
P: Have you been affected by the economy?
Me: Affected how?
P: You have to answer “yes” or “no”.
Anyway, you get the idea. The questions are loaded to produce a certain result. It reduces the questions to black and white when there is a hellofa lot of grey.
I would be interested in reading how the questions on this poll were presented.
Comment by retire05 — 5/14/2008 @ 7:44 am
I don’t know how big the polling sample actually was, but 100% of the people I know, even my liberal friends, think all the hysteria about global warming is a crock. We all also understand that recession is defined as 2 consecutive quarters of economic downturn - which has not happened even one time during the Bush administration. Yes, there are some blips on the economy and yes, gas prices are worrisome. However, unlike the chattering classes, we know (granted I was the one who has pointed this out, repeatedly) that the rise in gas prices is less tied to the price of a barrel of oil (although that is certainly a factor) than it is to the enormous gasoline taxes that are endlessly piled on by short-sighted and greedy politicians at both the state and federal levels. These politicians think WE work for them, instead of it being quite the opposite. Way too much knee jerk nonsense going on and precious little actual thinking!
Comment by Gayle Miller — 5/14/2008 @ 8:25 am
Seriously? They asked “Have you been affected by the economy?!” Ummm . . . yes? I mean, isn’t everyone affected by the economy? We’re affected by the economy just by living here. “Why yes, I have been affected by the economy. I have made a boatload of money in the last three years!
Anyways, I think we are in the 70s again. 70s styles are making a comeback, and the economy is just plain bad. That has more to do with the 82% figure than anything else, I suspect. The problem with the economy is that we’re going to have to recover from the loss of confidence in mortgages. NPR did a great report recently on how this whole thing happened from an economic perspective. Go find it, if you can.
Comment by B. Minich — 5/14/2008 @ 8:39 am
[...] Right Wing Nut House, “Poll: America Is a Sucky Place To Live Right Now” [...]
Pingback by The Glittering Eye » Blog Archive » Eye on the Watcher’s Council — 5/14/2008 @ 8:55 am
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Pingback by The 82% factor. Can't we all just get along? — 5/14/2008 @ 10:38 am
The same percentage of people that say this is a sucky country to live in also say they are doing fine but ‘hear’ that other are having it rough. This Poll say exactly what the Anti-American media wants it to say. Nothing less and nothing more.
Comment by Scrapiron — 5/14/2008 @ 12:16 pm
Just had to link to this at TMV. People are coming up with suggestions about other things we might find 82% agreement on. Ironically, one of them was George W. Bush’s 87% approval rating in November of 2001.
Comment by Jazz Shaw — 5/14/2008 @ 4:10 pm
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