Head banger! The Public Ain't Buying -- but Petraeus-Bush work magic, buy time INSIDE THE BELTWAY

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: The Public Ain't Buying
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Last week's Petraeus-Bush razzle-dazzle seems to have worked its magic inside the Beltway. The American public is not so easily confused.

The general's good-news report from Iraq and the president's token troop-withdrawal plan dampened the growing sense of urgency in Washington to get out of Iraq. Yet the facts on the ground in Iraq haven't fundamentally changed. And neither -- according to a slew of new polls -- have the views of the American people. They still want to bring the troops home. Soon. All of them.

Susan Page writes in USA Today: "A plurality of Americans say Gen. David Petraeus' proposal to begin withdrawing some U.S. forces from Iraq is on the right track, but his long-awaited testimony to Congress last week failed to change fundamental attitudes toward the war.

"A USA Today/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday found essentially no shift in views on whether U.S. forces are likely to win the war -- two-thirds predict they won't. . . .

"In the days before Petraeus' appearances and President Bush's speech to the nation last week, 60% supported setting a timetable for withdrawal and sticking to it 'regardless of what is going on in Iraq at the time.' Now 59% do.

"'In terms of public opinion, it seems like Petraeus didn't really change anyone's mind,' says Christian Grose, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University who studies the impact of the war on voting behavior. 'He may have bought the president some time in Washington ... but not in the public's eyes.'"...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/09/19/BL2007091901018.html?nav=hcmodule

[TwilightGardener]

1. Thank God. Maybe we're not as big of dumbfucks, collectively, as I thought.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. That IS a bit of a bright side! nt

[BurtWorm]

3. Krugman just wrote about this on his blog.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/what-i-hate-about-political-coverage/

[DeepModem Mom]

4. I noticed that! I'd already posted Krugman in GDPolitics when I saw this in the WP --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3534197

Maybe if this gets discussed in the press, some "pundits" MAY take a look in the mirror.

[BurtWorm]

5. I get a feeling he's talking about colleagues at his very own home.

One of whom, the godmother of snark, shares the op-ed page with him.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. You're right -- I'm CERTAIN he's counting his colleagues among those he's tweaking! nt