September 14, 2003
Revisiting Public Opinion
A few months ago I wrote up an entry covering public opinion and Iraq called Public opinion, Iraq and 2004. In the entry I went over some of the most recent public opinoin polls. I mentioned how the public’s perception of fighing in Iraq had been quickly shifting. In fact, the drop was from 86% thinking it was going well in May to a mere 56% one month later.
How have the numbers changed since then?
I ran across a more recent poll that asked whether Americans believed this administration has a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, which found 59% do not think the administration has a clear plan. The public opinion numbers, if representative of the entire population, are staggering. The public is even more united on its dismay over the Iraq war's $87 billion price tag.
The public opinion is clear, but the problem is finding someone who can capitalize on those numbers in 2004. With the possible entry of Wesley Clark this week we may start to see a more clear candidacy race for the Democrats. Frankly, for now I'm happy to see that more and more Americans are seeing the light.
Posted by joestump at September 14, 2003 02:20 PMI’m more enamored with the following observation:
1) When public support is high: The president is doing a great job and everyone agrees.
2) When public support wanes: Thre president is doing a great job… and he has a strong enough character that he doesn’t need to check polls to get the job done right, etc.
The prevailing rhetoric of his supporters is that he is always doing good, but it’s not apparent. But my hypothesis is that he seems to conduct polls in order to weigh what to promise. Tax cuts, for instance, promised to rejuvinate the economy, a clever ploy but the delivery was not where it was needed to ensure that.
Bush is a president who has mastered the art of talking out of both sides of his mouth and relies on his supporters to come to his aid instead of being straight and forthright with us on very important issues that have already altered the course and national attitude of this nation.
Posted by: Stephen VanDyke at September 14, 2003 03:35 PM6 in 10 don’t approve of the $87 billion (average of polls from various sources)
Someone from the right spin that for me, I’m going to take away two options though… no talking about 9/11 and no WMD. Concentrate on facts.
Posted by: Stephen VanDyke at September 14, 2003 03:47 PM
