White House Watch: Ann McFeatters / America's angry tone
Bush's low popularity is a reflection of bitter division
(I took the liberty to cut/paste the excerpt rather than post the entire article - buddy)
..."Zogby's latest polling showed Bush at his lowest level -- a positive job-approval rating of 46 percent, down from a high of 80 percent in January 2002. That does not mean he wouldn't be re-elected if last year's election were today -- he would, by a solid 5 percent.
Thus, Americans are not having buyer's remorse over giving Bush a second term. But they are worried about the war in Iraq and the mounting deaths and injuries, the economy, high gas prices and the president's desire to change Social Security, with nearly two in three Americans saying they are skeptical of his approach.
It is unusual this early in a second term for a president to be viscerally unpopular with half the population. What is going on?
Part of the answer certainly lies with the American people themselves. The election breakdown of "red" states (Republican) vs. "blue" states (Democratic) has not gone away.
"Americans are polarized and not in the mood for real conversations right now," Zogby said. "We are split into camps. If you are talking about the center, many people in the center wouldn't show up [to have a conversation]."
Americans are sharply, passionately divided -- whether the issue is abortion, stem-cell research, the sad last days of Terri Schiavo, the war in Iraq, the right response to terrorism, drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, new bankruptcy rules, the behavior of House GOP leader Tom DeLay, Senate filibusters or the media's extensive coverage of the papal drama in Rome."
Bush's low popularity is a reflection of bitter division
(I took the liberty to cut/paste the excerpt rather than post the entire article - buddy)
..."Zogby's latest polling showed Bush at his lowest level -- a positive job-approval rating of 46 percent, down from a high of 80 percent in January 2002. That does not mean he wouldn't be re-elected if last year's election were today -- he would, by a solid 5 percent.
Thus, Americans are not having buyer's remorse over giving Bush a second term. But they are worried about the war in Iraq and the mounting deaths and injuries, the economy, high gas prices and the president's desire to change Social Security, with nearly two in three Americans saying they are skeptical of his approach.
It is unusual this early in a second term for a president to be viscerally unpopular with half the population. What is going on?
Part of the answer certainly lies with the American people themselves. The election breakdown of "red" states (Republican) vs. "blue" states (Democratic) has not gone away.
"Americans are polarized and not in the mood for real conversations right now," Zogby said. "We are split into camps. If you are talking about the center, many people in the center wouldn't show up [to have a conversation]."
Americans are sharply, passionately divided -- whether the issue is abortion, stem-cell research, the sad last days of Terri Schiavo, the war in Iraq, the right response to terrorism, drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, new bankruptcy rules, the behavior of House GOP leader Tom DeLay, Senate filibusters or the media's extensive coverage of the papal drama in Rome."
