AP Poll: More voters see Bush as decisive; more see Kerry as intelligent

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/07/12/politics0150EDT0406.DTL

President Bush is viewed by more American voters as decisive and arrogant than Democratic rival John Kerry, according to an Associated Press poll. Voters are more likely to see Kerry as intelligent.

Asked who makes them feel more optimistic about the future, slightly more voters choose Bush than Kerry, the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs found. Both candidates are viewed as wealthy by nearly all voters, with slightly more seeing Bush as wealthy than Kerry.

Two-thirds in the poll think the president is decisive, the biggest character advantage the president has over Kerry in the poll. But a majority, 52 percent, also say they think Bush is arrogant.

<snip>

Four in five voters, 83 percent, say Kerry is intelligent, compared with 63 percent who view Bush as intelligent.

The Poll:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/07/12/politics0155EDT0410.DTL

[soothsayer]

1. Decisive, but makes the world's stupidest decisions

63 percent of voters are morans

[Feanorcurufinwe]

2. Well, it just shows that being 'decisive' is not necessarily a good thing.

I wonder what results they would have gotten with the adjectives 'arrogant' 'dishonest' or 'untrustworthy'?

[sampsonblk]

5. True, but

decisiveness makes a difference. For some reason, and I know not what, a sizeable portion of the electorate prefers a candidate who is 'strong,' whether he is right or wrong. And Bush has the 'strong and decisive' vote locked up - unless Kerry develops some substantive positions on issues that actually matter.

[Ferretherder]

21. Whatever happened to the will of the people?

How about...

...I want a leader that looks at both sides of an issue; weighs the consequences of a decision for or against, and ultimately consults the people who elected him to represent their interests and ideals - to guage THEIR opinion on matters - before taking action.....

...not some idiot, bull-headed, self-proclaimed 'messiah' who 'decisively leads us on a quest to fulfill HIS warped sense of HIS OWN DESTINY!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. The desire to be led

"For some reason, and I know not what, a sizeable portion of the electorate prefers a candidate who is 'strong,' whether he is right or wrong."

Those are the lazy voters, the ones who want a Big Daddy who will take care of all that boring government stuff so that they can take care of important things like watching reality TV.

[NWHarkness]

7. What some call decisive, I call reckless

[wrate]

43. Exactly. He is not decisive, he is just unaware of the consequences. n/t

[DieboldMustDie]

3. 63% think Bush is intelligent, 59% think he's compassionate...

and 53% think he's honest. Where the hell have these people been the past four years? :crazy:

[AndyTiedye]

10. Nothing/Nobody Has Ever Made Me As Pessimistic as Bush* Does

These people see optimism, intelligence and honesty there?

I guess that FauxNews HAS learned how to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

[Kinkistyle]

13. I swear to god we are living in a completely different time and dimension!

Like Plato's Allegory of the Cave, it seems like the term "Have and Have-nots" applies to information as well as to money. I just cannot fathom that over half of this country thinks Bush is smart, compassionate and honest! Its like these people are living in a cave and interpreting the world through shadows (whore media). I never truly imagined as a child that our country was like this, that I would grow up to live under such a President in such times. I am still flabbergasted everytime I think about it.

[cthrumatrix]

16. these are "polls" people.... this has nothing to do with what people think

it's the same BS we hear everyday...they give us polls to tell us how to think...

watch and listen to him...them make up your mind.

[truthisfreedom]

4. arrogant. why didn't they ask if he was the anti-christ, and see how that

one went over? which of the candidates is more likely to be the antichrist?

[Placebo]

6. What's the point...

...of sticking to your guns and never wavering if you're headed towards a cliff?

:crazy:

[truthisfreedom]

8. already jumped off, you mean.

[w4rma]

9. * is decisive, but in a bad way. Stubborn, reckless and short-sighted.

Not a character advantage.

[sandnsea]

11. God this is depressing

Who the hell are these people? Where do I live? The entire world thinks Bush is an idiot, except the idiots in the US.

[The Zanti Regent]

22. The sheeple are brainwashed by TV Preachers!

Millions of lemmings believe that Jesus is coming in a week or 2 to take them away into heaven with Bush.

Good riddance!

[sushi]

12. Being decisive is dangerous

if you make the wrong decisions! And it's even more dangerous if you're arrogant too.

[WindRavenX]

14. unfortunatly, being seen as intelligent can be a drawback

Look what happened to Gore in 2000. Americans distrust intellectuals; they look for the man they can have a beer with (W).

[Piperay]

15. Decisive, yes...

but so is someone who leaps off of cliff and I don't intend to go along for the ride. :mad:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

46. That's precisely what I was just thinking...

I don't see Kerry as indecisive; but I do think he's a man who thinks about the possible ramifications of his actions before making a rash decision.

The US doea not need 4 more years of knee-jerk reactions.

[hyphenate]

17. 63% think Bush is intelligent?

Which mental hospital are they from? Or are there really 63% of the current population actually more stupid than Bush?

[Bandit]

34. I think that is the only assumption one could make

America is a country of dunces. I doubt very seriously that the same results would occur if the poll was taken around the world instead of just America.

[smirkymonkey]

49. 63% of Americans are Mentally Retarded

:evilgrin:

[teryang]

18. This is to counter the 7 minute goat scene in F911

...where he didn't appear to be very decisive at all.

[TahitiNut]

31. 7 minutes of "staying the course"

... awaiting Big Time GFY Cheney's instructions, while Lynn kept hanging up the phone.

[MGKrebs]

19. Typo...supposed to say "defective".

[Ganja Ninja]

20. Thoughtless, reckless and cold hearted is not decisive.

Being decisive and accident prone is not a positive quality. Like the song goes "Fools rush in where wise men fear to tread."

[rfkrocks]

23. George Custer was decisive! Benedict Arnold was decisive-

the list is endless-we have lost touch with our founding fathers and the enlightenment paradigm-we love our decisive arrogance and in that pride we are lose the government they passed on to us

[pinniped]

24. POS * makes people feel more optimistic about the future?

You mean the future we may not even have thanks to the boy monkey?

Terra! Terra! Terra! 24/7 * 365 1/4 days a year.

Ya, I'm feeling a little optimistic myself.:eyes:

[leftchick]

25. New AP Headline: AP Poll: More Voters See Bush As Arrogant !

Hee Hee!! I bet this does not last long....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=3&u=/ap/20040713/ap_on_el_pr/candidate_qualities

[w4rma]

53. It didn't. (nt)

[leesa]

26. Remember, the AP has been a big cheerleader for Bush

They MUST make it appear that this race is close or they cannot steal the election. Perhaps we need to delve into how MUCH more wealthy Bush is.

[CreekDog]

27. Bush is not stupid...but he has no curiousity

He is smart, and dismiss that at your peril.

=========

"Stupid like a fox!" --Homer Simpson


"Very Smart --no stupid, very stupid, but you've met your match in me!"

--Colonel Flagg of "M.A.S.H."

[TahitiNut]

32. Agreed. His arrogance and narcissism are handicaps that even genius ...

... couldn't overcome. He diligently ignores and discards any feedback that's incongruent with his self-serving, 'faith-based' presumptions. His dogma ate his homework. He's the poster child for a neoconservative mentality that cannot cope with ambiguity. He marshals his innate but underdeveloped intellectual horsepower to form barriers and defenses against information contrary to his adopted dogma - and his handlers ensure that those barriers aren't overcome.

[smirkymonkey]

51. Yeah right, ok.

[yellowcanine]

28. My dog is decisive also but I don't want him running my household let

alone the whole country. Decisive is overrated as a leadership characteristic, imo.

[Beetwasher]

29. This Poll Is Fucking STUPID and MEANINGLESS PROPOGANDA!

What a total load of crap! There is no point to this poll. It serves no useful purpose except to find some positive numbers to prop up the Chimp. He must be doing really awful if they are pulling this kind of shit out of their ass.

[peekaloo]

30. amen

just like a chimp, pulling crap from their arses and throwing it at us!

[bemildred]

33. More voters see AP polls as irrelevant ... nt

[Gyre]

36. TV is the problem

Until something is done to destroy the virtual hegemony the major media owners enjoy, this disconnect is only going to get worse since it's where 90% of Americans get their information.

Gyre

[skooooo]

37. Do we want decisive stupid people in charge???

I think not.

[LibDemAlways]

38. If sitting on your ass

looking like a clueless moron while the country is being attacked is what passes for decisive these days, we live in stange times indeed.

This "poll" is a fraud.

[jbutsz]

39. JFK/Farewell America - by James Hepburn, explains this American phenomenon

...of preferring "strong" but simple leaders.

http://www.jfk-online.com/farewell00.html

"The People" don't trust learned/intelligent leaders. The now-neocons saw this clearly from JFK, and with utter contempt for the masses, they have by now perfected the art of exploiting this American phenomenon with their actor (Bush, and previously Reagan), playing the part of "Heck, I'm just a simple man tryin' to do what's right, by God."

Perfect part to play for Bush, as it doesn't require taking responsibility for any failures, nor any corruption taking place/exposed in government under him.

[Barkley]

52. Good Point!

And I think a lot of people identify with Bush on that level: "Heck, I'm just a simple man tryin' to do what's right, by God."

And calling Bush stupid often is seen as an attack on the mentality of these people.

Thanks for sharing your ideas!

[moondust]

40. You mean "divisive"?

Somebody needs some spelling lessons.

[truthisfreedom]

48. exactly. 8^)

divisive are rove.

[democracy eh]

41. what good is decisive

if you continuously make the wrong decision?

I am walking into a wall, and nobody is going to change my mind. I am decisive!!

[KurtNYC]

42. "Smart" ?! Now they are hitting Kerry where it hurts

We know how threatened some are by "smart" leaders.

Love these slanted polls -- why is it implied that "decisive" or "strong leader" is an all good thing?

[progressivebydesign]

44. What in the WORLD would make people feel optimistic about Bush??

Geez.. does the fucking ceiling have to fall on these people to get it? The past 3 1/2 years have been sheer hell.. the economy sucks, we've been in two never-ending wars, TWO!, terrorism is on the upswing, consumer confidence has been in the toilet since Bush first "took" office (downward trend started in MARCH 2001 (BEFORE 9/11). More children are hungry, crime is up. Schools are cutting more and more teachers... And what EXACTLY is it that makes people feel MORE optimistic about Bush's America?? Because I cannot bear to watch ANY broadcast t.v. anymore (for several years) I can only imagine that the insipid shows I've read about are the true measure of the dumbing down of America. Less people read, more watch incredibly mind-numbing crap on t.v. I guess, eventually, the majority of voters would HAVE to begin that intellectual decline. Save me from these MORANS!!

[Gin]

45. No...that was a typo....it should have said he is Divisive...not decisive

g

[AlGore-08.com]

47. It's about several major societal shifts, IMNSHO

I think that the reason we are where we are culturally has to do with the shift from a machine based economy to an information based economy. In the Clinton/Gore years, the Internet boom made it appear as if anybody really could get ahead - - if they were smart enough. The old (white) boy's network couldn't control who got ahead in business. Anybody with access to a computer could create ebay or amazon.com - - if they were smart enough. Additionally, the Internet provides the possibility of the grassroots democracy. Anybody could be Moveon.org and mobilize millions of pissed off voters - - if they were smart enough.

At the same time, the country's demographic makeup is shifting so that we are moving toward being a minority/majority population. We already have that out here in Cali, and Texas and Florida are expected to shift over before 2008.

For (some) blue collar white guys who don't have those computer skills or the ability to learn them, it's scary as hell to face the idea of having to compete in an economy of ideas. In a culture where people who were held back unfairly might soon be in a position to take revenge. For anybody who has made it under the older anti-meritocratic system (or anybody who identifies with those who have made it) it's equally scary.

In response, charlatans on the right have been peddling a simple solution: America needs "real Christians" in office. We need people with "the right values". They're selling the bogus idea that these changes in society are temporary only.

For these people, Smirk's occupancy of the White House is reason to feel optimistic. It proves that the old system still operates and they don't have to worry that maybe they don't deserve all they have in life. They certainly don't need to worry about it being taken away.

[smirkymonkey]

50. If going off half-cocked on a whim

equals "decisive" in people's minds, then yes, Hair-trigger Chimpy would be considered more "decisive".