Bush's poll numbers up --- WTF ?

[obnoxiousdrunk]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's standing with the public improved over the previous week as he made a highly visible effort to manage the consequences of the second major hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast in a month, a new poll out Thursday found.

Bush's job approval rating in the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll climbed to 45 percent, and 71 percent said they approved of his handling of Hurricane Rita, which struck land Saturday near the Texas-Louisiana border.

By comparison, only 40 percent said they approved of his handling of Hurricane Katrina, which hit near the Louisiana-Mississippi line August 29.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/29/bush.poll/index.html

[MaineDem]

1. Sheeple buy the photo ops

Sad, isn't it!

[OzarkDem]

37. And Dems offer no opposition

or alternative policies.


Worst strategy ever.

[Tesha]

96. Remember what Einstein is alleged to have said...

Remember what Einstein is alleged to have said:

"The universe contains limitless quantities of two things:
Hydrogen and stupidity."

(that's my paraphrase)

Tesha

[sabra]

2. Rove paid Gallup to do this.

It will be down in the 30's with in the next week or 2...

[Binka]

87. Yes

This is a fabrication. Or an aberration. You pick. Chimp is still sliding down the dumbshit hole.

[Evergreen Emerald]

93. I agree

The polls were so obviously biased in the presidential election--they proved themselves to be more lying shills.

[fooj]

3. Didn't poll the Texans sleeping in their cars?

Geez......

Peace.

[Mabus]

Never misunderestimate the American sheeple

:cry:

[bemildred]

4. Garbage in, garbage out.

A well done poll produces the desired result.

[MidwestTransplant]

5. Fleeting.

[deadparrot]

6. Predictable. Hurricane DeLay hasn't hit yet. nt

[Polethebear]

17. They won't assiocaite delay with him

that's two different stories.

[deadparrot]

18. I respectfully disagree.

Bush has publicly defended him, and DeLay has long been a darling of the WH. Bush depended on DeLay and his corruption.

[Polethebear]

19. OK

I see your point....I just,in my gut don't think they will. Cheers...:toast:

[soothsayer]

Feh. He's sure to F up again any moment.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. BUSHIT!!!! Don't believe it!

[Mass]

8. ONe word, Gallup

Wait until the next poll. The week after Katrina, Gallup had Bush up.

[sabra]

10. Excellent point.

[Cha]

9. I'm glad I'm not among

the many who see images of the monkey boy's photo ops on tv or hear him plead a "mea culpa you filthy suckers" and think he's doing great at his fucking job.

No worries, bush will Fuck up again..Big Time!

[ElectroPrincess]

11. Lies from the Media Whores is my best guess?

Like killing the #2 Zarqawi Lieutenant, I seriously doubt that the sheeple buy this LIE.

Sooner or later "the jig is up" because most American don't trust the USA media to begin with ... there's not a lot of "me too" type reaction to the latest drivel from these propaganda artists.

We've seen the man behind the curtain ... and we don't like what our Country is becoming in the eyes of the World.

[underpants]

12. 71 % ??? that is too funny

HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!

Oh maybe that is it they just want him to sit in the corner for a few more years then get out.

[maxrandb]

92. It's easy to come up with that 71%

All you have to do is word the question like this; "Compared to his handling of Hurricane Katrina, did the pretzledent do a good job handling Hurricane Rita?"

Once again, Bush gets away with being incompetent because the standards for competency have been lowered.

He's the only pretzledent that I can remember that is "graded on the curve".

[hiley]

13. WTF?

damn, this is nothing short of brain damage.

[Polethebear]

14. They're buying it

pepole just don't care.They live from story to story and now that katrina seems to be over it's like "What's next???" They don't want news,they want a series.

They figure pepole in katrina arent complaining anymore(Read:TV News isn't covering it as much) that he must be doing his job.




DUH!

[hiley]

21. makes me furious

even though it could be expected from the American public.

[NWHarkness]

15. Gallup isn't credible

Hasn't been for years.

What were they off by in 2000? Almost 20 points?

[Journeyman]

16. Doesn't surprise me at all. . .

Gallup polls always trend higher for Bush than others. And the Administration's handling of Rita had to poll better than it did for Katrina, for no other reason than that Rita was a milder storm that didn't hit as populated an area. Even with the troubled evacuation and disjointed response, there was a less a sense of pending doom so those easily swayed were impressed with Bush's "presence" during the storm.

If nothing else, we should keep in mind that not everyone sees everything during these incidents. The majority receive everything they know from the major network newscasts, and if they aren't being told there that something's gone awry, they'll never discover it on their own.

Remember: The Bush tenure is like a season of baseball -- there will be many fluctuations in the standings, and a bad game may be followed the next day by a good game, but what's important to keep in mind are the trends of the season, who's on the disabled roster, and when the team hits a slump in hitting, for those factors are what determine the general tone of the season and the direction the team is headed. Right now, their headed to the cellar, and though it may be two steps down half-a-step up, the general direction bodes ill for them all.

[Imagevision]

20. Yeah and the troops are getting armor, believe what you read???

[superconnected]

22. don't worry, now they're going to find out about the oil line being

damaged. The rising cost of gas is what was really sinking this prez.

The Iraq war isn't helping either.

As far as Rita - he didn't really do anything blatantly wrong(okay exploding seniors but was it really his fault). It was Katrina he F-up on. Let's see how he does on the next poll.

[rodeodance]

24. poll taken before the DeLay situation I hope.

[msgadget]

23. Of course it is

He hasn't appeared unscripted in front of the camera lately nor has he taken questions. Instead we see photos of him sitting in meetings looking tired and humble or making a statement and rushing off with Cheney limping in his wake... His off-the-cuff remarks post-Katrina explain why his most successful mode is to say little publicly.

[Timefortruth]

25. The Democrats gave him a pass on Katrina

What did you expect? Roberts was a good choice too? Without a free press or opposition party it's all just propaganda.

[OzarkDem]

34. Dem leaders are going to lose

Their strategy of waiting to let the public realize that R's are corrupt is bad, bad, bad.

I can't believe they're so lazy and timid. They will have blown every opportunity handed to them.

Its sickening.

[ThoughtCriminal]

26. Interesting #s from SurveryUSA

9/22/05
41% Approve 57% Dissaprove

"According to available public estimates, approximately 12.5% of Louisiana households were without landline telephone service during the field period for this survey, though more than that have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina and may not have been home to answer their working, ringing telephone. Separately: In Mississippi, 6.25% of households were without telephone service during this field period. In Alabama, 1% of households were without phone service. The impact on public opinion in those regions cannot be quantified, except to caution that those most-displaced by Katrina would be those most under-represented in this survey."

http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2005/50StatePOTUS0905SortedbyState.htm

[AnnInLa]

27. Wait until home heating goes up, up, up this winter

busco will blame the 2 hurricanes for the price of home heating this winter, but, people will remember that the rumors of high, high costs were all over the internet even before Katrina hit. There were so many mentions on the internet and in MSM, that I went and bought 3 small electric heaters 2 weeks before Katrina, and others were doing the same thing.

(I suggest you guys do the same thing before those small heaters are scarce as hen's teeth!)

[Cha]

39. And it gets Colder

than Shite out there like it's reported to be this winter in New York, anyway.

This is just a fleeting up due to massive photos ops..with our money.

The little fucker will go down again.

[AndyTiedye]

28. When KKKarl Calls, Gallup Listens

[ihelpu2see]

29. Gallup is always +5 off when it samples... and always favors *

they use Diebold computers me thinks....

[4_Legs_Good]

30. At least it's nice that he's "up" to 45

Like 45 is something to be proud of.

He had a huge PR blitz on Rita. It'll fade again, and quickly. Iraq is going to rear it's ugly head again. 5 more Americans killed today and 10 times as many Iraqis at least.

:puke:

I hate this guy.

david

[Beaverhausen]

41. exactly. 45% is not very good

I too think this was because of his "Rita" trips.

Some people are easily fooled.

[Teaser]

31. Why do you people continually ask this question?

Polls fluctuate. Gallup more than most.

Learn some statistics or stop posting.

[rlpincus]

32. Check Rasmussen

His numbers there have been frozen at 45% for a week. Odd that one poll has him stagnant while another has him improving. An inexact science.

[Tempest]

36. Like Gallup, Rasmussen also a rightwing pollster

Scott Rasmussen worked for Bush in Texas.

[one_true_leroy]

33. it's because we're a nation of idiot-box addicts and ADHD types.

[Tempest]

35. Gallup overpolls Repugs, uses demographics from the 1950s

Media relying on flawed polls: Gallup and CBS/NYT skewed toward Republicans

http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=9470

[Uncle Joe]

102. They are part of the "Matrix" see movie for details n/t

[Megahurtz]

38. Oh Bullshit! They just "Diebolded" the numbers again!

Fucking lying CROOKS!!!:argh:

[ECH1969]

40. His numbers have bounced back and forth

In the last four Gallup polls

[snippy]

42. Lots of photo ops and some statistical noise. Here is the truth.

Notice any trend?

Day by day and individual by individual, Bush himself continues to convince the American people that he is what he is and that millions of them made a mistake by voting for him.

[xxqqqzme]

43. wow 'n all it took was runnin'

his chickenshit ass back 'n forth 2 the gulf states about 1000 times, photo op in the command center in COLORADO so he could understand that relationship between the feds & states better (I thought he was a governor???DOH!) then run his ass down 2 survey the wake of Rita - prezidentin' is hard work! (when you're workin' 2 get your numbers back up).

[struggle4progress]

44. Poll: Perdue up, Bush down with Georgia voters

<snip> Perdue’s showing was in stark contrast to President Bush, who received only a 46 percent job-approval rating, the first time he has scored below 50 percent in Georgia. <snip>

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_article_id=6865&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2

[leesa]

45. Nope. Even in far right wing San Diego area, the Bush stickers are gone

This is BS.

[cassiepriam]

46. American public, very short attention spans....

[Francine Frensky]

47. Dead cat bounce.

Even a dead cat will bounce after being dropped off a building.

It's an age-old phenomena.

[BlueIris]

49. What chimpsrsmarter posted, but your comment is damn funny anyway!

Not that I like the imagery, but still. Bush=dead cat. That's appropriate.

[AlCzervik]

48. it was only on Rita, his overall is still in the shitter.

[Kolesar]

53. I wish that was true, but that is not what the link says ... eom

[DeepModem Mom]

50. Damn -- I knew they were fooling people on Rita! Our LBN articles...

were refuting their purported improved response every day, but I don't think the failure was made clear on TV, where it counts among many more people than the print press does.

[bunnywhiskers]

51. CNN and Gallup are helping out with damage control

[Azathoth]

52. Operation Hurricane Photo-Op worked

Rove ain't a genius, but he knows how to win over simple and naive people.

[populistdriven]

54. Because Dems offer no opposition - Ozark hit the nail on the head.

Not one elected Dem showed in DC on Saturday.

Worst strategy ever.

[Jane Austin]

101. That's not the point.

The point is that there were thousands of images of bush in his shirtsleeves on the ground in Louisiana and Texas on television, on the internet, and in papers and magazines.

There is nothing Dems can do to counteract that.

It's not like we could have Dr. Dean or Kerry or Hillary or Gen Clark on the ground there and get the same impact with TV news.

Bush has the bully pulpit and Karl Rove knows it.

[TOOLZ]

55. I think 5% of people were like, "well, he did MORE than nothing this time"

They need to believe they're safe.

Keep the Hurricane panels coming.

[liberalhistorian]

56. You'd think people would see right through

his political spin and propaganda bullshit, especially since he was pounded for Katrina. I wish every single American would read about how his advisers had to hold a conference call to discuss how to tell him he had to return two days earlier than planned from his fucking FIVE WEEK vacation and that he was upset about that. Not about the hurricane, or the levees breaking, or the thousands of lives lost and hundreds of thousands displaced, whose lives were totally upended. No, only about having to leave his vacation. Christ, some "leader" we have here.

[pro_blue_guy]

57. One can never rely on the polls and irrelevant percentages.

Polls are crass.

[truthpusher]

58. Bush poll numbers improve in Rita aftermath

please do not shoot the messenger....thank you...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050929/pl_nm/bush_polls_dc_2

Bush poll numbers improve in Rita aftermath
--------------
13 minutes ago
--------------
President George W. Bush's job approval has risen after slumping to new lows on criticism of his handling of deadly Hurricane Katrina, two polls showed on Thursday.

Bush's approval rating climbed to 45 percent in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll taken September 26-28, up from 40 percent in a similar poll taken a week ago.

A Fox News poll also showed Bush with a 45 percent approval rating. That survey, taken on September 27-28, showed a rise in Bush's standing compared to a mid-month poll that gave him a 41 percent approval rating.

(snip)

Seventy-one percent of those polled by CNN/USA Today/Gallup gave Bush high marks for his handling of Rita, which hit Texas and Louisiana last Saturday.

(snip)

Only 40 percent approved of the president's handling of Katrina, which devastated Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on August 29.

(snip)

complete story: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050929/pl_nm/bush_polls_dc_2

[TallahasseeGrannie]

59. Well that harshed my mellow..... n/t

[cliss]

60. I do NOT believe this.

What has happened that would help Bush's numbers? Sure, the gulf states are being cleaned up, but with whose money? answer = american taxpayers, that's who.

This is a flat-out lie. The spin-meisters are wearing turbans, and they're smoking the hookah pipe.

:smoke: no offense, Truthp. Love your posts.

[dbonds]

61. CNN/Gallup, whew I was worried it was a real poll for a second.

[Pacifist Patriot]

62. LOL! My very reaction.

[truthpusher]

64. it's the disparity within the poll from the last time it was taken...

...that matters. Of course these polls are motivated to skew...but the 5 points difference is what should be taken into consideration.

[Pacifist Patriot]

66. But I can't be sure the 5 point difference isn't a push either.

I know personal experience doesn't amount to much, but everyone I know has hardly been swayed by Hurricane Rita. It's difficult to extrapolate a change into the general population.

[struggle4progress]

83. Gallup seem to be been moonshining their questions lately:

Media cite Gallup poll question that masked actual Dem proposals for funding Katrina relief
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509220011

[Coastie for Truth]

63. But the 40%-45% approval

is a rock bottom, core, base level.

He could be caught on national tv getting a "Monica" from Condi or Karen Hughes - and he still wouldn't drop below 40%.

Our job is to keep his approval below 40%-45%.

[beyurslf]

65. What was Clinton's approval at its lowest? During impeachment?

Why don't they ever compare it so the dumbasses can see how bad he is?

[achtung_circus]

69. DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO SINGLE POLLS!!!!!!

Wow, the first time I've used all caps, and it's adressed not specifically to you.

to answer your question, check here:

[beyurslf]

75. Thank you. My point exactly. One or 2 Zogby polls put him under 50%

ever in the term. When was Bush last above 50? They talk about hiw ratings now, but they don't give the historical backdrop to show how low that really is.

[onenote]

97. that chart doesn't match up with this one

http://www.pollingreport.com/clinton1.htm

Not sure why. But if you believe the information contained on the linked site, then Gallup actually tended to come up with higher ratings for Clinton than a lot of the other polls. But even Gallup had Clinton dropping below 50 percent a few times (and hitting the low 40s a couple of times near the end of his term).

Point is: polls are rough barometers at best. A few point swing up or down really isn't anything anyone should hang their hats on. And while I seriously doubt we'll see chimpy's numbers in the 30's in a couple of weeks as one poster here predicted, he's probably not going to see numbers much above 50 anytime soon either.

onenote

[otohara]

67. So....Had It Not Been For Another Hurricane

His sorry ass ratings would still be around 40%

Photo ops sure do wonder's for a fella!

[against all enemies]

68. Numbers reflect how stupid the public really is.

[Geek_Girl]

70. I'll wait for another poll

Gallup is one of the worst polls IMHO.

[Arkana]

94. Hurricane Bugman hasn't hit yet.

We'll see what happens when it does.

[bullimiami]

71. the stories of continued federal incompetence affecting the rita victims

is just coming out now.
there was a '''gush''' of unfounded praise right after but the reality is becoming evident.


oh btw. i dont believe the polls either. not a bit. ever.

[Mz Pip]

72. What is Bush do?

Really, what did he do? Not much of anything except fly around and survey damage. BFD. I could have done that. :eyes:

Mz Pip
:dem:

[emulatorloo]

74. you forgot all the posing for pictures like a super model

EOM

[goforit]

73. Balony!!!

[belle]

76. I expect it's mainly because Rita wasn't as godawful as Katrina.

[demgrrrll]

77. Have you noticed that about 13 or 14 people could barely wait 10

minutes to get this information out? Interesting.........

[truthisfreedom]

78. F^©k the polls. stay on message! bush isn't the key to this thing. we

need to focus on the sheer destruction of the thug party next year as they lose control of Congress, which is a MUST-HAPPEN thing.

[Newsjock]

79. Margin of error makes this insignificant

CNN/Gallup margin of error: +/- 5 points
Old approval: 40% -- could be anything from 35-45 equally likely
New approval: 45% -- could be anything from 40-50 equally likely

It could be that he actually dropped from 45% to 40%. The poll can't tell. It's meaningless. It's worthless.

[lancdem]

80. It's temporary

Don't worry.

[intheflow]

81. They're obviously not talking to anyone affected by Rita.

I know a lot of Houstonians are pissed at the evac nightmare, and people where Rita hit are having the same problems with MIA relief help. I'm volunteering at the Denver Red Cross and the Rita people walking in are just as frustrated as the Katrina evacuees I worked with in Houston a week ago.

[freethought]

82. Let me guess margin of error is +- 5% N/T

[rainbow4321]

84. Guess they didn't ask anyone in East Texas

Looks like FEMA relies on the cool front coming thru Texas to help solve the problems of those who live in areas "where electricity may be out for weeks or months." And washing ones' clothes in the filthy post-hurricane waters must be real fun....

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/093005dntexrita.1ba72625.html


People have slept in tents to take advantage of the cooler night air, washed clothes and bathed in rivers, and relied on food, water and ice supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"I'm glad the weather has changed today," FEMA regional director Gary Jones said of a cold front that dropped temperatures from the high 90s into the high 70s in parts of the region Thursday.

Mr. Perry acknowledged the mass evacuation of Texans from the coastal counties inland "wasn't perfect." Thousands of people were stuck in traffic jams and about 60 people died from heat exhaustion and traffic accidents. "It wasn't perfect. It had flaws and we need to address it," he said. "One loss of life is too many.

In Houston, thousands of refugees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita again lined up for government assistance at a disaster center, but unlike a day earlier when some fainted from heat exhaustion, they were allowed to wait inside.

[PATRICK]

85. the best they can do

is give him a "bounce" underwater and the fact he doesn't break surface is concealed. But is there a "bounce" in the margin of error?

Once again the shock and anger and growing consciousness of the nation's populace has been constantly left redirected by the MSM and the WH noise machine. This why it always hovers away from the point where mass demonstrations and rioting and universal upheaval would take place. And, heavens to betsy, God forbid that the Democratic leadership would incite the natural consequence of a direct threat to the security of every American citizen and the the nation they THOUGHT they had.

We are seeing two consequences. One is the establishment control of the interpretation and knowledge EVEN if reality TV shows otherwise. The second is driving the swelling majority opposition to the regime farther and farther down. This is becoming a monster that someone else may redirect at some future date, but not necessarily in a good direction.

We know you can't stampede out of a burning building, but you know, hello?- the building IS burning?

And once again the polling is presented generally in this cherry picked, talking point fashion. Whatever validity they might have the unscientific abuse of opinion polling in their public dissemination is as fake as chicken entrails auguries or palmistry. We;ll, more fake because they keep telling you things you can't believe and don't want to hear to make THEIR futures unrealistically bright.

[Czolgosz]

98. Why would anyone shoot the messenger? This is the same poll from the OP.

It's not news that Gallup always skews higher than it should for BushInc. If Gallup has him at 45", you can bet he's about 40% which is where other polls have him. BTW, expect another dip in the wake of the DeLay-Frist-Abramoff-Safavian-Brown Wave of Scandal (which will mushroom to include Rove and Libby if Fitzgerald pulls through).

[VolcanoJen]

86. So, The Chimperor is at 45 in a Gallup Poll.

We should be opening the Kristal, if you ask me.

:toast: Cheers!!!! :toast:

[ladylibertee]

88. Gee, I wonder why.

[Boo Boo]

89. The sheeple are fucking idiots.

Rita falls to a Cat. 3, so Bush did a good job. Yah. Right. If Rita hits Houston Cat 4, Bush is an instant dumbshit. Neither outcome is under his control. Besides, the prep for Rita was a mess.

Just goes to show: an awful lot of people are quite easily snookered with 30 seconds of photo op---unless, of course, a major city has just been destroyed.

[TomNickell]

90. Small rebound is predictable......

As the hurricane coverage declines, some of the faithful will come home.

Don't worry about it.

[jmowreader]

91. It's been a good week for him

He got his Republican-controlled Senate to sign off on his Supreme Court Chief Justice.

He did a whole hurricane without going on vacation, eating any cake or playing his guitar even once!

He was workin' hard. And what's the reward for a whole week of workin' hard? Why, five percent of the country hates him less than they did last week.

Next week, when the effects of them damn lib'rul Dimmycrats indictin' Tom DeLay for just bein' himself and the new Abu Ghraib photos hit Bush's rating, he may be down to 34-35 percent. (Which, considering that CNN/Gallup uses Diebold machines, means fourteen percent of all Americans don't wish to see him keelhauled.)

[SemperEadem]

95. so, 71% approve of the government's tactics to cull the poor

why hadn't they thought of that before!! :sarcasm:

[yppahemnkm]

99. Who polls the most accurate?

[Czolgosz]

100. Check out pollkatz.com. He's a polling genius so I don't have to be.

[greblc]

103. How can they forgive and forget *?

* is a "repeat offender". All he has to do is put on a face and the Red States let him off. Dumb asses. It makes me think of My Favorite Cohen Bros. movie.

* Drowns a city and apologizes.

"Well O.K. then..." - Parole Board Member,Raising Arizona

...Your free to go Mr.*.