Citizen G'kar: Musings on Earth

March 23, 2005

Bush Approval Plummets on Schiavo Overreach

Bush Approval Plummets on Schiavo Overreach
The blatant disregard for legal precedent and good policy finally appears to have caught up to President Bush and the Republican Congress. The AP passes on the results of the most recently published public opinion poll.
More than two-thirds of people who describe themselves as evangelicals and conservatives disapprove of the intervention by Congress and President Bush in the case of the Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman at the center of a national debate.

A CBS News poll found that four of five people polled opposed federal intervention, with levels of disapproval among key groups supporting the GOP almost that high.

Bush's overall approval was at 43 percent, down from 49 percent last month.

Looking at the specific data from the poll, a number of other things pop out. Firstly, Congress' approval rating has dropped seven points in one month, from 41% to 34%. Congress has not been this unpopular since 1997 in the wake of GOP investigations into Democratic fundraising.

Also interesting to note is that the President's approval on Iraq is down to 39%, a drop of six points this month. This is consequential due to the fact that there have not been any major attacks recently.

Finally, it appears people have had quite enough of Bush's pandering to Rightwing Christian zealots. Even his constituency in the past election no longer approves.

1 comment:

DrRocket said...

It would seem that President Bush's non too subtle power grab attempt from the states has somewhat backfired on him. Both he and Jeb now say they can do no more, much to the consternation of those who would like Jeb to send in the National Guard to remove Terri from the hospice.
This was a bald-faced attempt to wrest control of cases like this from the state courts systems, over which he has little control, save for those of Texas and Florida, and move them over to the federal court system. A system that is slowly becoming populated by judges nominated by George W, and eventually, the neocons hope, Jeb Bush. (Yes, I believe Jeb is positioning himself to replace his brother in 2008. That's part of what this has all been about. A cynical attempt to pander to the conservative Christian Taliban.)