Bush Cabinet Ratings Still Falling

[Robbien]

Job ratings for President Bush and the major members of his cabinet have fallen to their lowest levels yet, according to the Harris Poll. However, neither the democrats nor Senator John Kerry in particular appear to be benefiting at present, with voting intentions suggesting a very close result.

Three key figures have seen their positive ratings overtaken by their negative since thelast poll in February. President Bush is down to 48% positive, 51% negative, the worst ratings of his presidency; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s ratings have fallen to 45% positive, 47% negative from 50% positive, 43% negative in February and Attorney General John Ashcroft’s ratings have fallen to 40% positive, 45% negative compared to 44% positive, 42% negative in February.

Vice President Dick Cheney’s ratings remain the lowest of the main figures, falling to 36% positive, 52% negative, compared to 41% positive, 48% negative in February. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s remain the highest at 63% positive, 31% negative, but these are also his worst ratings since he took office.

Of all the presidents going back to Lyndon Johnson, only President George H. W. Bush and President James Carter had worse ratings in April before their re-election bid. All three of the presidents who won re-election – President Nixon, President Reagan, President Clinton – enjoyed somewhat or much better ratings in April of their re-election years.

http://www.mrweb.com/drno/news3075.htm

[fryguy]

1. An interesting NYTimes OP/ED about poll numbers

And this from an associate editor at the New Republic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/opinion/23LIZZ.html

<snip>

"In none of the polls this week that purported to show the Bush surge does the president have majority support. Any politician running for re-election sweats when a poll shows him under 51 percent. Voters who say they are undecided almost always end up opposing the incumbent — they know him well, and if they were going to vote for him, they would have already decided. Thus support for Mr. Bush should be seen more as a ceiling, while support for Mr. Kerry, the lesser-known challenger, is more like a floor."

<snip>

"The other numbers that keep presidents awake at night are the so-called "right direction/wrong track" figures, which ask voters about the general direction of the country and often serve as a leading indicator for a politician's overall health. Here, the news must be worrying to the White House. Even as Mr. Bush's numbers against Mr. Kerry and his job approval rating have risen slightly, the percentage of Americans who believe that "things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track" has climbed to 57 percent from 46 percent last April."

<more>

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/opinion/23LIZZ.html

[UpInArms]

2. gee, can I play the "ratings game" too?

on a scale of 1 to 10, I give

Bush a negative 7 trillion (for the amount of the current debt) although it his rating should be lower than that

Rummy gets a rating on the psycho scale of about -150,000 (for the approximate number of troops he has sent into harm's way)

AssKKKroft? Well, since this guy lost to a dead man, we definitely know that he's on the minus scale - let's say, hmmmm, what is the going price for a bottle of Crisco these day? $2.00? So, he gets a negative number at -200 ('cause he truly only rates in pennies)

Colonoscopy? He's appearing to be such a butt-reaming fool, that he has slipped into negative territory also. I guess that the cranial inversion rating for him would be about the value of degraded biological warfare in the range of -100,000 (50 tons of VX was it?) Actually, that was a vial of botox, but ... oh well!

Can't rate Cheney - the thing without a heart - the sneer forever in place - the beast behind the bumbling puppet - he's so far into the negative karma that ratings could never do it justice.

But I guess that since I am only a part of stupid "focus group" that didn't need to be listened to, my ratings of these "men" (and I use that term loosely) is just as valid as my "focus group" membership. (Which is actually more valid than anything this mal-administration has ever done or said.)

[grasswire]

3. good news here

"President Bush is down to 48% positive, 51% negative, the worst ratings of his presidency"

When the negatives are higher than the positives for POTUS, we've got an excellent position.

[cybildisobedience]

4. gee, what happened to Bush's big boost?

That's all we heard about all this week, with morons like Howard Fineman stumbling over himself to praise the great emperor.
What does this "lowest rating ever" do the conventional wisdom that Bush is so likable and charming that he can get away with anything?
Will the media whores have to rethink their assessments?

[West Coast Democrat]

5. I was just about to post the Cheney Approval Number

36% positive 52% negative

No wonder they keep him out of the public eye!

[PATRICK]

6. Kerry has barely started to claim

the majority that want change. It is no drawback that the starstruck corporate media hasn't fallen all over him. Their choices are invariably bad and shallow and usually defeated. Usually the power gods look at the looney tunes standards of media idol worship and figure rightly than if that is the case ANYONE can win and they put in a troll with a Madison Avenue makeover.

All of this media primping to make Bush look competitive is on the other side of reality too. It looks like a disingenuous sports event hype when the best team is not allowed to look too good or the result inevitable. Very similar in fact to Super Bowl coverage rather than deciding maturely the living fate of the nation and world.

Looking at Bush and the numbers one can see doom spelled out pretty boldly, with the sole exception of the money game, fraud and media fawning which do not in any way have a perfect batting average.

It may become a question as to what a desperate, losing Bush team will do, but with our media they will get a long time to act before that is reported to the general public.

[AndyTiedye]

8. They Did That in California

> they put in a troll with a Madison Avenue makeover.

[RamboLiberal]

7. I bet this is the first time since Nixon or at least Iran/Contra

That so many people were paying attention to so many of the players. I know the wingnuts probably could some of the Clinton cabinet since they had such a hate on for Janet Reno and Al Gore.

Wonder what Condi's ratings are?