Survey: Bush vs. Dean

[[e-mail]]

I am writing a research paper on the 2004 presidential election and its prospects for George Bush and the current Democratic front runner Howard Dean. I am polling several different message boards to hear the opinions of a variety of people. If anyone has an opinion and would like to answer this quick survey, I would be glad to hear them.

1. What will be George Bush’s greatest strength going into his re-election campaign? His Greatest Weakness?

2. Assuming he wins the nomination, what will be Howard Dean’s greatest strength going into his election campaign? His Greatest Weakness?

3. Who do you want to win? Why?

4. Who do you think will win in 2004? Why?

5. Optional: What can either of them do to improve their chances?

Thanks, your help is greatly appreciated.

[RetroLounge]

1. No offense, but if YOU are writing the paper

then shouldn't YOU do the research?

Donate $10.00 to DU and get you star, then search old threads for info.

jusy my .02

[wryter2000]

4. Conducting a survey is writing the paper

First you collect data. Then, you write the paper based on what you find.

[janx]

13. That's true...but it's late in the semester to begin.

.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nini]

2. ..

1. Bush's strength - the huge amounts of money from special interests to fuel his campaign. Weakness - the economy and insanity in Iraq.


2. Deans strenght - Speaking the truth, DEan's weakness - speaking the truth with the wrong words that can be twisted by the republicans.

3. Dean - because 4 more years of Bush will ruin this country to the point where it will not recover in my lifetime, if ever.

4. Dean (especially if Clark is the running mate) - because most people are finally seeing the truth and realities of the Bush policies. I fear the voting machines though.

[slinkerwink]

3. you shouldn't put the basis of the paper on message boards

because most of the people on message boards are more tuned in to politics than the average american is and are extremely opinionated. I suggest that you look at national and state polls as better evidence for your paper.

[wryter2000]

5. Answers

1. Strength - people think he's waging a war against terror. Weaknesses - everything else.

2. Strength - honestly attacking Bush on the issues. Weaknesses - he only ran a small state.

3. Dean. Bush is the worst president in my lifetime. The terrible things he's done fall into all categories, but my biggies are (in no particular order) the war in Iraq, the way he's enriched his buddies at everyone else's expense, his attacks on our Constitution.

4. Lordy, I don't know. Looks like Bush is winning so far.

[Eloriel]

6. Okay, I'll play

1. What will be George Bush’s greatest strength going into his re-election campaign? His Greatest Weakness?

Strength: Fearmongering, lying, lots of money
Weakness (if we can capitalize): Fearmongering, lying

2. Assuming he wins the nomination, what will be Howard Dean’s greatest strength going into his election campaign? His Greatest Weakness?

Strength: Ability to re-involve people in the political process because he's an exciting candidate
Weakness: His mouth sometimes gets him into trouble.

3. Who do you want to win? Why?

Dean, of course. Because he'll come in owing no one but The People anything and has great ideas for fixing what ails us.

4. Who do you think will win in 2004? Why?

I don't know. It depends on the damned voting machines. Without the voting machines, Dean, hands down, no contest.

5. Optional: What can either of them do to improve their chances?

Dean: Be just a little more circumspect in his off-the-cuff remarks.

Eloriel

[coloradodem2005]

7. My take on this

My answers:

1. I would say that Bush's only true strength would be 9/11. Because of this, he has managed to rally the people, mainly through fear though, but as basic an emotion as fear is, it can be a very powerful tool.

Weakness: Everything else!!! He is not an intelligent nor an honorable man. If the economy does not seriously generate jobs, it will continue to be a liability for him, and even if it does, it will not compensate for the 3 million plus that he lost in the last 3 years. Iraq is one of the biggest mistakes that America was ever involved in. It keeps getting worse in Iraq and more families and soldiers are getting mad.

Dean's strengths: He has built up a good campaign. He has a clear message that he is conveying and many people are catching onto this. He offers hope where Bush offers fear. He offers opportunity where Bush offers a gloomy future. He offers peace, where Bush offers an unneccesary War. He offers intelligence, where Bush offers Stupidity. In essence Dean's greatest strength is being everything that Bush is not. This is what draws people to him.

His weakness: He needs to expand his message. Sometimes he seems to repeat himself from speech to speech.


I would want Dean to win of course. Because he has the ability to reach a lot of people. He has a good realistic grip on domestic issues and at least knows what he wants to accomplish with foreign policy. Many of the other Democrats are good candidates too, especially Clark and Kucinich.

All things being equal, Dean, for the reasons I mentioned above. I think more people are getting tired of all of the B.S. that has been going on for the last 3 years and I think that the negative feelings will continue to grow unless something changes. Although, things may not be equal if what happened in 2000 happens in 2004

[slinkerwink]

8. my take

1)Bush's greatest strength going into the general election is to paint himself as a total goofball who was taken in by the mean neoconservatives. His greatest weakness is the economy, healthcare plan, the war on Iraq, the environment, the gutting of the veteran benefits.

2)Dean's greatest strength going into the general election will be the organization of his campaign by getting 2 million voters to donate $100 each, thus creating a base of $200 million. He also has very committed supporters and has had the most diverse campaign so far. Dean also has the support of the two biggest diverse unions, the AFSCME and the SEIU. Dean also has a great track record in Vermont where he was REELECTED FIVE times, without defeat. Dean also plans in long-term by asking his supporters to donate money to congressional races in effect to take the House and the Senate back from the Republicans. Thus so far, Dean's greatest strength is getting new voters out to vote for the Democrats which they sorely need.

Dean's weakness is having other Democrats attack him and mischaracterize his words. Dean also has a tendency to tell things very bluntly.

3) I want Dean to win in 2004 because he'll actually give Democrats their backbone back, and he'll represent the American people, not corporations like Bush does.

4)I think Dean will win in 2004 if the Democratic party backs him (they'd better!) and he'll get the base turned out and he's a centrist so he's also pulling in Independents and Republicans.

5)Dean, to improve his chances, would be pandering to every single constituency but he doesn't. Otherwise to improve his chances, he'll need a win in both IA and NH to create a media storm that will effectively get him nominated, and he needs to create a large call to America to get the base out and to educate American voters about Bush.

I don't want Bush to improve his chances---'nuff said.

[Mattforclark]

9. Alright...

"1. What will be George Bush’s greatest strength going into his re-election campaign? His Greatest Weakness?"

Impossible to tell for sure at this juncture. He will probably be his greatest weakness and his greatest strenght, because he is so polarizing.

"2. Assuming he wins the nomination, what will be Howard Dean’s greatest strength going into his election campaign? His Greatest Weakness?"

His greatest strength will be Wesley Clark as his VP. His greatest weakness would be the fact that he's from Vermont.

"3. Who do you want to win? Why?"

Clark, but if it is just Dean and Bush, Dean. Because Bush has/is ruining our country.

"4. Who do you think will win in 2004? Why?"

Impossible to tell, because politics is fickle and event driven.

"5. Optional: What can either of them do to improve their chances?"

Dean can pick Clark as his VP and Bush can become a born-again Liberal (or at least moderate) and suddenly make things better.

[Astarho]

10. Here's mine

1. What will be George Bush’s greatest strength going into his re-election campaign? His Greatest Weakness?

His greatest strength is the media covering his ass for all his screw-ups. His greatest weakness is having to appear live and unscripted.

2. Assuming he wins the nomination, what will be Howard Dean’s greatest strength going into his election campaign? His Greatest Weakness?

Dean's greatest strength is his loyal well-organized campaign. hes greatest weakness is his record as governor.

3. Who do you want to win? Why?

Dean, because he's not quite as bad as Bush, but other candidates are better than either.

4. Who do you think will win in 2004? Why?

Bush. Dean's waffling has given Bush more then enough rope to hang him with.

[GOPBasher]

11. I'll take the survey.

BUSH:
Strengths:

*A motivated base in the radical Christian right wing (especially with the gay marriage issue on the table).

*A base of economic conservatives that feel they have nowhere else to go. They'll vote for Bush despite record budgets and record deficits.

*And, to get the swing voters: money, money, money and money. All donors can easily give the $2000 limit.

Weaknesses:

*Iraq mess

*Deficit

On the fence:
*Economy. We don't know what it'll be like a year from now, so it could a a strength or a weakness.

DEAN:

Strenths:

*Iraq mess. Can say, "I told you so!"

*Incredible grassroots support. Gives him tons of volunteers and tons of money.

*Can rival Bush in money, despite relying on "normal people" with "normal contributions" of $50 or so.

Weaknesses:

*Gay marriage issue will bring out the fundie vote. They really, really hate gay people.

*Doesn't come across as "likable." Too vehement.

WHO DO I WANT TO WIN?

Well, Dean of course. Why? That's quite lengthy, but here's a short rundown. I'd like the budget to be balanced; $500 billion dollor shortfalls give me indigestion. I'd like the minimum wage increased -- you know, REAL economic stimulus, for the people who need it most. I'd like it if we didn't lose 400+ soldiers so Haliburton can have an $87 billion contract. While I'm at it, it'd be nice if my President told me the truth about why we're going to war, rather than pretending there are weapons of mass destruction somewhere. I'd like it if we can protect our ecosystem so the human species doesn't go extinct before my daughter gets to be my age. I'd like it if fundamentalist Christians didn't try to shove their religion down everyone's throat. For example, in science class, we should teach SCIENCE, not biblical creation. Also, I'm pro-choice, pro-affermative action, and I wish the radical right would leave gay people alone.

WHO DO I THINK W0ULD WIN?
That depends on a lot. If the perception of the economy is good by next summer to late fall and the situation in Iraq improves, Bush is a lock, in my opinion. If the economy slows again or if Iraq deteriorates further, he'll have a tough time.

TO IMPROVE THEIR CHANCES
Bush can raise the minimum wage, increase financial aid or something along those lines. If he shows he has another part to his economic agenda besides tax cuts, he helps him himself.

Dean can try to come across as a much more likable guy; someone you'd like to have dinner with. That anger will motivate his base, but it won't get the swing voters.

[janx]

12. Isn't it a little late in the semester to start a research paper?

?

[DemBones DemBones]

14. It surely is. Think it's due tomorrow? n/t

[janx]

16. I think the rough draft was due last week.

;-)

[[e-mail]]

17. I've done a ton of research.

My Interview fell through so I've been scrambling to find a new primary source. I've been asking the polling questions in all kinds of forums, including conservative ones and some not related to politics at all to hear from a variety of people. I just want to know if the conclusions I'm coming up with are consistant with how Bush or Dean supporters see their strengths and weaknesses and have them tell me why they support either candidate.