24%: *'s job approval rating

[babylonsister]

Voters unhappy with Bush and Congress
Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:21am EDT

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deepening unhappiness with President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress soured the mood of Americans and sent Bush's approval rating to another record low this month, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

The Reuters/Zogby Index, which measures the mood of the country, also fell from 98.8 to 96 -- the second consecutive month it has dropped. The number of Americans who believe the country is on the wrong track jumped four points to 66 percent.

Bush's job approval rating fell to 24 percent from last month's record low for a Zogby poll of 29 percent. A paltry 11 percent gave Congress a positive grade, tying last month's record low.

"There is a real question among Americans now about how relevant this government is to them," pollster John Zogby said. "They tell us they want action on health care, education, the war and immigration, but they don't believe they are going to get it."

The dismal assessment of the Republican president and the Democratic-controlled Congress follows another month of inconclusive political battles over a future path in Iraq and the recent Bush veto of an expansion of the program providing insurance for poor children.

more...

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1624620720071017?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. The nub:

"There is a real question among Americans now about how relevant this government is to them," pollster John Zogby said. "They tell us they want action on health care, education, the war and immigration, but they don't believe they are going to get it."

[madokie]

3. and therein lies the 11%

I'm pretty put out by this majority we worked so hard to elect.

[babylonsister]

7. That's not a 'rub', that's people waking up! Finally! Granted,

they may wind up being as disgusted as I/we've been with the Dems inaction, but it's nice to know someone's noticing. Maybe if more people notice, Congress will act more responsibly. I can hope.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. "Nub."

"N."


nub /nʌb/

–noun
1. the point, gist, or heart of something.

[babylonsister]

13. My eyes!

Sorry, I read that wrong. :hide:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. S'alright.

"S'alright!"

[ChairmanAgnostic]

40. if one rubs the nub, can we wish for a new speaker?

or does that only work with tarnished lamps?

[leftofthedial]

39. trouble with the "nub" is

only a handful of the rich SOB's in Congress still work for the people. They don't give a lukewarm spit what "the people" think.

Until we bust out the torches and pitchforks, "we the people" are just a giant food sack for the few wealthy and powerful, good only for the taxes and labor we contribute.

[papau]

2. Approaching Chenny poll teritory - the veto of child care no doubt did not help n/t

n/t

[EV_Ares]

9. Probably why he is going on national tv in and hour or so to discuss

the child healthcare & supposedly take questions.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

23. Bush is not very popular with Moms

[davekriss]

4. 24%

How low can he go before he is tarred-and-feathered and run out of town? 66% of Americans (finally!) think we are on the wrong track. Massive change in leadership on both sides of the aisle are called for.

[NewJeffCT]

5. maybe if he falls below 20%

we'll get more than a handful in Congress asking for impeachment?

[annabanana]

6. Is that a bump or a dip? It's so far down the hole, I can't see very well.. . .n/t

[ixion]

19. lol...very nice

:rofl:

[flordehinojos]

8. 24% is simply still too high ..

his poll approval numbers really ought to be minus zero,zero,zero,zero ∞ infinity!

[crim son]

14. That was my thought.

Who the hell are these people and can we have them all deported?

[Toots]

10. Tomorrow we will hear Bush* has fallen to new low of 32%

One thing is absolute though, two thirds of the nation doesn't like or respect this Administration.

[babylonsister]

12. Probably, but this is the lowest I've seen him go so far. nt

[AndyA]

15. Note to Congress:

Forgive me for being obvious, but at this point if Bush wants it, chances are VERY GOOD that the VAST MAJORITY of the American people DO NOT WANT IT.

Act accordingly if you value your job.

[Mend]

16. I don't see where the poll divides the Democratic Congress from the

Republican Congress. It would interesting to know if the people understand that we can't over-ride vetoes when republicans vote with bush.

[EV_Ares]

20. I think the problem is where the dem leadership can take steps to

stop the funding of this war but refuse to do so. They seem to start something than back down. So far the leadership has been weak and not doing what they promised everyone when elected. "Impeachment off the table".

[Mend]

36. the PR blow-back by the masters of slime would apparently be terrible....

we don't support the troops, they will all starve and not have guns. Remember these are the same maroons that believed John Kerry was a coward and bush had the crotch the size of a basketball on that battleship. We don't have the votes for impeachment much less SCHIP...people need to know that until everyone elected is a Democrat, we can't save this country.

[Lasher]

29. That's a good point. More Congressional disapproval is directed at the GOP

This should serve as an indication of that:

Generic Congressional Ballot
Saturday, October 06, 2007

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that, if the Congressional Election were held today, 48% of American voters say they would vote for the Democrat in their district and 36% would opt for the Republican. While that’s a bit closer than last month’s 18-point advantage for the Democrats, it’s the third straight month Nancy Pelosi’s Party has enjoyed a double-digit lead.

While Democrats lead among all age groups, their biggest advantage remains among the young. Among those under 30, Democrats lead by a 62% to 30% margin. They also have a five-point edge among white voters along with an enormous lead among minority voters.

The 48% support this month and 50% support last month have been the highest levels enjoyed by the Democrats this year. Prior to reaching these past two months, support for Democrats had stayed in the 45% to 47% range for six consecutive monthly surveys.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/generic_congressional_ballot__1

[FormerDittoHead]

18. It's amazing that there is 24%, but it shows how much influence Fox, Talk Radio, etc has. n/t

[EV_Ares]

22. I don't think Fox has anything to do with him at 24. I bet you know some idiot

right wingers that will stay with him no matter what he does. There is a certain percentage that will never leave his side.

[FormerDittoHead]

24. People don't believe extreme fantasies in a vacuum...

That's why we have schools. Because people learn things from reading, watching and listening.

My right wing friends listen to talk radio and watch Fox.

If there was a fairness doctrine, and there were no Foxnews, the billionaire financing it, and people were FORCED to get their news from sources which used verifiable FACTS, I GUARANTEE you that 24% would be like 10%...

ON EDIT: I agree there's NOTHING that can be done, in part, for this because of the Internet (Drudge, etc) but the fact is that when I get in my car, if I want to listen to something besides crappy music and 17 minutes of commercials an hour, conservative talk radio is always there...

[EV_Ares]

25. Good points but in the end I really have never worried too much about

Fox news or Rush. The reason for this is his sewerage is pretty will soaked up by his devoted cult listeners who in most cases appear to not be the most sophisticated type and he feeds them from the bottle his garbage and it is garbage they want to hear. They in most cases are not going to change, would not vote for a dem if it was Jesus Christ and would vote for anyone who wears the neocon right wing religious fanatic label.

[FormerDittoHead]

34. Two small points of disagreement.

First off, while, as you say, most of them are not the most sophisticated type, I would have to submit that MANY of them are smart, although misguided. Again, many of these people get ALL of their news (or at least the majority of it) from these sources. One need not be stupid to be misguided.

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=834

Talk radio is holding onto its corner of the media market 17% of the public regularly listens to radio shows that invite listeners to call in to discuss current events, public issues and politics. The talk radio audience remains a distinct group; it is mostly male, middle-aged, well-educated and conservative.

I would further submit that it's because of this demographic that advertisers find it so appealing to support talk radio.

But ultimately, as you say, there will be a core number of these reactionaries, and they will always have their books and websites, but my point is that this 24% is too high to simply ignore.

One: Consider the proportion of people who actually vote as opposed to those who are eligible.

Two: The road ahead needing broad support. Between getting out of Iraq and doing something MEANINGFUL about health care, trade, taxes, etc.

The 10%-15% that I believe programmed / propaganda media hangs on to is a SIGNIFICANT number, when you consider the issues which this percentage can sway.

It's not a GIGANTIC point, but I believe it's a significant one, especially considering that something as easy as rolling back the fairness doctrine and imposing the older rules for media ownership would break this whole thing up.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

21. such much?

what watch?


No matter how reality bites,
24% still seems high,
and then I take a glance at freeper sites,
and I am forced to sigh.

[Lasher]

26. This is the lowest ever for Junior in any poll.

His previous record of 25% was set by the American Research Group in July this year.

http://www.beggarscanbechoosers.com/2007/07/poll-bush-approval-rating-slumps-to-25.html

Junior has now tied with Nixon for having the second lowest presidential approval rating of all time. But I have a feeling he will manage to break Harry Truman's record of 22% before all is said and done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approval_rating#Lowest_approval_rating:

[GeminiProgressive]

27. People are fed up

with Democrats and Republicans..the entire government as a whole! I think we will go the way of the Soviet Union and our entire political process will need to be scrapped. Our gov. is nothing but a bloated beuracratic cow...socialism for the rich and war and death for the rest of us. They need to throw the money out of politics, open up competition so that more than 2 parties can compete for office (Dems and Reps sure love "competition" in the market, but not in politics), institute IRV voting, abolish the electoral college and the senate and gut the CIA.

[Amonester]

28. Maybe when oil is (soon) to peak at $100/brl will * drop below...

20%

[Lasher]

31. There is a direct relationship between low presidential approval and high gas prices.

So you might be right.

I have lately been anticipating this new low for Junior, thinking his veto of SCHIP would bring a few more zombies to life.

[Avalux]

30. Polls are irrelevant in Dictatorships.

He doesn't care, the rest of the government doesn't care. The opinions of the people mean nothing at this point. We continue the facade of taking polls and reporting the results as if they had any bearing on the decisions made by our 'elected' officials.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

32. They Care About Their Jobs

You think George "Macaca" Allen, Conrad Burns, and those other yahoos don't miss their jobs...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

33. People are finally realizing that "trusting" the government isn't such a hot idea.

Perhaps there's a chance that they will start demanding real reforms of a system so obviously corrupted by ambition and greed.

[DarkTirade]

35. He's still THAT high?

[babylonsister]

37. He's still that high. Don't ask me. nt

[Swamp Rat]

38. The Congress could drastically improve their approval rating by IMPEACHING THAT FUCKING MONSTER!!!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

41. swamp hit the magic button. All it takes is that one step

and congress would triple its rating.

[bdamomma]

44. Why are they afraid to take the step? Is it Cheney?

cause we all know what a monster he is.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

45. My mind doesn't work that way.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom why. My only guess is that the illegal domestic spying was directed, before and after 9/11, to democrats and democratic candidates, with a liberal use of blackmail based on the results.

[OzarkDem]

43. Aligning themselves w/ Bush and the GOP is hurting D's in Congress

The same failed strategy of the DLC (stick close to the GOP on positions) doesn't work in this case.

The best way Dems in Congress can increase approval is by running AWAY from Bush and the GOP.

[OzarkDem]

42. Interesting, Gallup and others have him in the 30's

Methinks someone is messing around with public opinion polls.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

46. not only these polls.

Every dem or moderate I talk to in person cannot stand Hillary. And this is Chicago!

I have yet to find a strong supporter of hers.

I could easily be convinced that the polling companies WANT her nominated, because of her growing relationships with big pharma, big insurance, big defense corpse, and big wallstreet firms. She would be bush lite.

I also don't believe that bush has 30% or anywhere near it.