CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS' 24-POINT LEAD OVER BUSH COLLAPSES TO DEAD HEAT: LEADING CAUSE IS IRAQ

[DeepModem Mom]

ABC News: Democrats Lose Their Edge
Poll Shows Congressional Approval Ratings Have Returned to Pre-Election Levels
ANALYSIS by GARY LANGER
June 4, 2007

The Democrats in Congress have lost much of the leadership edge they carried out of the 2006 midterm election, with the lack of progress in Iraq being the leading cause. Their only solace: President Bush and the Republicans aren't doing any better.

Six weeks ago the Democrats held a 24-point lead over Bush as the stronger leadership force in Washington; today that's collapsed to a dead heat. The Democrats' overall job approval rating likewise has dropped, from a 54 percent majority to 44 percent now -- with the decline occurring almost exclusively among strong opponents of the Iraq War....

***

The shift away from the Democrats in Congress has occurred on two levels. In terms of their overall approval rating, the damage is almost entirely among people who strongly oppose the war in Iraq. In this group 69 percent approved of the Democrats in April, but just 54 percent still approve now -- a likely effect of the Democrats' failure to push a withdrawal timetable through Congress.

Their decline in leadership ratings vs. Bush is more broadly based -- that's occurred among war opponents and supporters alike, apparently reflecting more an assessment of their performance than an expression of support or opposition....

***

...the public still trusts the Democrats in Congress over Bush to handle the situation in Iraq, by 51 percent to 35 percent. But the Democrats' number has slipped from 58 percent in April and a high of 60 percent in January....

***

The combination of these two sentiments -- deep unhappiness with the situation, and lack of consensus on what to do about it -- is what's driving broader discontent with Bush, with the Republicans in Washington and now with the Democrats as well....

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3242551&page=1

[Phredicles]

1. Good thing our powder's dry or I'd be worried.

:sarcasm:

[Wetzelbill]

4. oh lord

that just depressed me. I tell you what, it is infuriarating dealing with this stuff. I hate the "powder's dry" reference. A typical ratty politician thing. :)

[Art_from_Ark]

23. When they say "powder", they don't mean "gunpowder"

They mean the kind of powder used for peruque wigs back in the 18th century. After all, they have to look their finest when they bow down before His Majesty

:sarcasm:

[petgoat]

37. Bravo!

Now that's funny! :rofl: :applause:

[pa28]

24. We're storing our powder in a time capsule.

One of these days . . . one of these days.

[Rex]

2. nc

[Erika]

3. They caved to Bush

We wanted the Iraqi disaster stopped. Edwards told them to not fund the bill and keep introducing the same bill. They caved, pure and simple.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

31. As bad as caving in, they bought into the WrongWing meme that America still wanted

success in Iraq. That is pure BS. American's want out period and personally, I don't think they give a crap about supporting the troops.

[SoCalDem]

5. watch for more and more of these "close" polls as the election nears

Close polls allow for Diebold chicanery and explain away any pesky "too close to call" fixes..

[symbolman]

26. I'm with you

this is ALL PR WARS folks.

Did YOU actually THINK the Dems would slide into BUSH's Washington and STOP the war in WEEKS or MONTHS?

THis is a Politcal Process, they are working the RULES, while Bush has ALL THE DAMN GUNS, Including the Media.

I don't buy it, I'm going to give them TIME to do the Job, and IF you are STILL antiwar, there is STILL ONLY One Party that IS antiwar.. and that is the DEMS.

IF you all fall into this ROVE TRAP, we WILL LOSE the 2008 ELECTION. DON'T DO IT.

Support the DEMS, NOW more than ever.

[Edweird]

29. Hmmm. Is that why I'm angry? PR? I thought it was because of the bill they wrote.

I'm pissed and I'm not the only one. The reason their approval has slipped has nothing to do with PR and everything to with appropriations bill. They presented a bill when there should have been none. They fucked up bad.

[MadHound]

30. I can think for myself, thank you.

This disillusion with the Dems isn't due to PR, it isn't due to Rove, it is due directly to the actions taken by the Dem majority in both houses of Congress. The power to end this war resides with the Dems, simply by defunding the war. All they have to do in order to fulfill the people's wishes is to refuse to bring any supplemental war funding bills out of committee. Yet instead they go ahead and give Bush everything he wants.
This is why I and many, many others are pissed with the Dems.

Yes, this will damage the Dems in '08. In fact if the Dems don't end the war by the fall, I predict that not only with the 'Pugs will win the WH, but they'll take Congress back over also.

And judging from their actions, actually the only party that is anti-war through and through is the Greens. After all, didn't the Dems just vote to continue the carnage?:shrug:

[Pale Blue Dot]

36. I don't think it 's DU that's falling into the Rove trap.

I think that the Democratic leadership did. Again. And these polls prove it, unless your tinfoil hat is on so tight that you can't see what's right in front of you.

[symbolman]

38. Polls don't prove shit

what's with the fucking INSULT about tin foil hats?

Why should I listen to someone so dug in that they have to insult people that disagree.

Man, that's real discourse, welcome to the DU - enjoy the ultimate drollness of the oh so witty drive bys that accomplish NOTHING.

[Pale Blue Dot]

40. I apologize for the "tin foil hat" comment.

I have a lot of respect for you and what you've done. I have been on DU for 5 years, and if you look through my posts you'll find that I'm not "dug in", or particularly "witty".

I AM, however, very upset about the Democrat's actions. At the time of the vote many people (not all) on DU were justifying it as good politics. I felt very strongly that it was, in fact, very BAD politics.

Now that there are 2 polls are showing that, at least for now, it WAS bad politics, I saw someone dismissing the polling as a Rovian tactic. I got upset that people are missing the point and trying to justify it by seeing a polling conspiracy.

Maybe, in a year and a half, you'll be able to PM me and say "Finnfan, you were wrong!" I will be happy to be wrong. But right now, the evidence is that the Democrats made a huge moral and political mistake.

[Solly Mack]

6. ... eom

[mzmolly]

7. All the more reason for the R's to keep us in Iraq.

I think we'll get some of our lead back in July when Murtha introduces is rez?

A bit of good news: Indeed, the public still trusts the Democrats in Congress over Bush to handle the situation in Iraq, by 51 percent to 35 percent. But the Democrats' number has slipped from 58 percent in April and a high of 60 percent in January.

[jgraz]

8. Pardon me while I die of not surprise

To paraphrase Jon Stewart: "Are they trying to lose??!?"

[farmboxer]

9. They will still bow to Bush no matter what happens because

they are extremely afaid of him. Why? Please, someone tell me?! Iraq is a nightmare and should be stopped ASAP! They should, at least try! However, they are still better than the Republicans! We need real campaign reform now!

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. One word

Anthrax

And if they cannot get over their fear... they should just step aside

[jgraz]

13. Don't forget 6 years of illegal wiretaps

Even if you don't have a spine, you can still have a skeleton in your closet.

[Hardrada]

18. Or a mistress in the next county!

[BuyingThyme]

10. New "leadership" please.

Pelosi is the worst ever.

Thank you.

:P

[jgraz]

11. Anyone care to speculate where their approval would be if they were still defying *?

a) up

...or...

b) way up

[BuyingThyme]

16. b

[charlie]

14. After decades of practice

they've almost got it down to a science. Another election cycle or two and the Donkey can at long last be replaced with the Fainting Goat.

[Canuckistanian]

15. Think they'll get the message now?

Didn't think so.

That powder is so dry by now that it would take take another Katrina to dampen it.

[jgraz]

17. Congratulations, Dems! You've bought yourselves a war

And all you had to do was piss away all your political leverage and set yourselves up to hand control of congress back to the GOP. That's some good politickin right there.

[Erika]

19. No, this is still W's war

rubber stamped by the GOP. I'm just disappointed the Dems didn't say no more.

[jgraz]

20. Yeah, but the Dems have a timeshare

After all, they chose political expediency over moral imperative. They share responsibility for every death that follows.

[Pale Blue Dot]

33. Talk to everyday people. They don't see it that way.

They now feel that the Democrats are just as responsible as Bush. This was a HUGE mistake, and I think that the Democrats may be lucky to keep control of Congress in 2008 unless they act quickly on gas, the economy, and IMPEACHMENT.

[JCMach1]

21. Remember 1968-- we lost that debacle at the height of anti-war

sentiment and landed ourselves with Nixon...

[Art_from_Ark]

25. Yeah, we lost that debacle

thanks to the assassination of the probable Democratic nominee and the installation of a stealth candidate to siphon away votes from the Democrat in the South

[Peace Patriot]

22. It makes you want to scream, doesn't it?! But I won't. I will just say this:

You cannot perpetrate an unjust, illegal war, in a democracy--especially one with the Vietnam War in living memory--without fixing the elections. During October 2002, two democracy-shattering acts were committed by Congress, one quite famous--the Iraq War Resolution--and one quite under the radar--the "Help America Vote for Bush's War Act" (aka, HAVA), which appropriated $3.9 billion to fast-track electronic voting machines and central tabulators all over the country, run on 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by rightwing Bushite corporations, with virtually no audit/recount controls.

Soon after the IWR was passed, 56% of the American people opposed the invasion of Iraq (Feb. '03). That would be a landslide in a presidential election. It has now grown to a whopping 70+%. It was to defeat that great, peace-minded, progressive, common sense American majority that the HAVFBWA (more commonly known as HAVA) was passed. Even more Democrats in Congress voted for HAVFBWA--a mind-bogglingly anti-democratic transformation of our election system from vote counting that everyone can see and understand to completely uncountable, unverifiable, and extremely insider hackable voting machines--than voted for the IWR.

That WAS the coup. Rightwing corporate Bushite controlled SECRET vote-counting. The electronic voting coup was engineered by the biggest crooks in the Anthrax Congress--Tom Delay and Bob Ney--ABETTED BY Democratic Party point man Christopher Dodd, and also by DNC chair Terry McAuliffe.

It is STILL under the radar. Not one--NOT ONE!--of the people running for president, not one--NOT ONE!--of our Democratic members of Congress, state governors, secretaries of state, state legislators or party leaders has cried out against SECRET BUSHITE CORPORATION VOTE 'COUNTING.' Whether because of fear, blackmail, the herd mentality, or being corrupt crooks hog-tied to the war and the "military-industrial complex--I don't know. You be the judge. The Democratic Party leadership is a mixed bag. But this IS the issue on which to evaluate them. Do they believe in democracy or not?

The Iraq War has become almost a chimera--a dazzling rattle that our politicians shake before our eyes. (Christopher Dodd is particularly good at this--but they all do it.) If they believed in democracy, and IF they believed that the sovereign people of the United States should have a say on this war, or any war, or on any vital issue, they would be asking WHY, with over 70% of the American people opposed to this war, we ended up with a Congress that ESCALATED the war with another 100 BILLION dollars straight into the pockets of war profiteers.

Why aren't they asking this? Why aren't asking, HOW CAN THIS BE?

The entire U.S. political establishment, at this point, is a juggernaut for war. THIS is why the Democratic Party leadership DOESN'T CARE about a 24% drop in their popularity! Their purpose is NOT to do the will of the people. Their purpose is to THWART the will of the people. And they were in on it from the beginning. Their votes for rightwing corporate Bushite controlled SECRET vote counting PROVES that. And it is proven every time they open their mouths and fail to descry Diebold/ES&S SECRET control of the vote count, and fail to call for vote counting that everyone can see and understand. But they never will. Cuz they don't owe their power to us any more. They owe it to Diebold/ES&S. What money can't "fix," Diebold/ES&S can quietly steal with their "black box" voting machines.

That's how Bush/Cheney got "reelected." That's how we ended up with this traitor Congress. And this is what I can't stand about all the discussions of Congress' cave-in to Bush, and all the presidential candidates' political theatrics on the war--like a bunch of dancing shamans with their rattles. WHAT DO WE EXPECT from a non-transparent, corporate-controlled, FASCIST vote "counting" system?

----------

Well, I did shout some. But, hell, I'm mad. Our problem is FUNDAMENTAL. They have messed with our right to vote. They have assaulted the fundamental mechanism of our democracy. Both parties. And their purpose was WAR.

[bonito]

32. Kick n/t

[deacon]

27. How idiot-they lost 15 points- how stupid they are

and now what will they do? Fools.

[Edweird]

28. Maybe they ARE actually trying to "take a dive".

Either that or they are colossally stupid.

[burythehatchet]

34. This is what the DLC wants. Its in their interests to prevent a

progressive wave from lifting the Democratic party. This is the Joe Lieberman wing.

[leftchick]

35. all I can say is

WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED????? :puke:

[Connie_Corleone]

39. Congratulations, Democrats!

Keep up the bad work!

:eyes: