redblueamerica.com

Memo to George W. Bush: Though your approval rating hit a new low this week, keep your chin up!

Sure, a pessimist looking at Bush’s approval rating of 28% might think that America believes Bush is doing a God-awful job as President of the United States. 

On the other hand, an optimist would have to think that Bush has pulled off an absolute miracle in convincing more than a quarter of those polled that he’s doing just fine. Given his track record, it’s remarkable there are even a handful of people left who approve of Bush’s job performance.

Heck, he’s even ahead of Harry Truman, whose approval rating dipped to 23% in 1952 as America was mired in the Korean conflict.

It would take hours to list each of Bush’s major blunders, but the disastrous war, the crumbling economy, the compromised environment, and failures in the education and health-care systems give you a clue as what might be on the minds of the 72% who aren’t wild about the Bush presidency.

Still, 28% of Americans give Bush the proverbial pat on the back and tell him he’s doing a heck of a job (now where have we heard that one before?).  

Who are these 28%? As they said in Casablanca, “round up the usual suspects.”

* It shouldn’t come as any shock that 60% of Republicans approve of Bush

* It is somewhat amazing that 7% of Democrats approve as do 17% of independents.

The same poll revealed that 24% of Americans think this country is heading in the right direction. Perhaps they were thinking right, as in right of Pat Buchanan and not right, as in correct or proper.

What does this tell us? Mostly that people can be remarkably stubborn. The people who love Bush seem to love him no matter what the hell he does.

A look at the 2004 presidential exit polls reveals a great deal about Bush’s fan base: 

* Though Bush’s first term was an unmitigated disaster, 91% of the people that voted for Bush in 2000 voted for him again in 2004. Hell, they’d probably vote for him again in 2008, given the chance.

* 78% of white evangelicals voters went for Bush in 2004. Considering that he’s done everything in his power to overturn Roe v. Wade, to ban stem cell research, and forbid gay marriage, you got to figure that a significant portion of the remaining 28% fit into this category.

* 91% of the voters who thought the war in Iraq was going “very well” in 2004, voted for Bush. If they loved a hopeless quagmire back then, then they’ve just got to be thrilled with the state of the war in 2008. In the last four years, we’ve spent billions of dollars, displaced millions of Iraqis and left hundreds of thousands more dead. Guess that’s another big thumbs up for Georgie.

As I said before, George, keep that chin up. The people who love you will always love you, no matter what you do. As for the people who don’t? Well, when was the last time you gave a s**t about what the vast majority wanted or needed, anyway?

www.blogezine.com