Spelling the End of the Bush Administration

[displacedyankeedem]

Spelling the End of the Bush Administration

The announcement of John Edwards as the VP pick has clearly shaken up the race for President. Much to the Republicans' surprise, Kerry for once, chose charisma and spontaneity over caution. Even more to their surprise, they learned that attacking Edwards by saying he's too inexperienced "won't hunt". In addition, by picking Edwards, Kerry has officially declared war on a new front: the Southland. When only looked at from this perspective, it's a stroke of sheer brilliance. In short, Bush now has the unenviable task of trying to catch Kerry somewhere out on the prairies of the Midwest while at the same time fending off Kerry's offensive into the South.

The Southern offensive is particularly important when we consider what Bush has left of his "coalition of the willing" in America. He's already lost the fiscal conservatives because of the fact that his administration is literally spending money like there's no tomorrow for them. What this translates to on the ground for the Bush campaign is the loss of key places such as the Philadelphia suburbs in Montgomery County that are rapidly becoming the swing reasons. He's lost a lot of veterans both to Kerry's valor and his own mishandling of the war on terror. He's lost the Northeast, the West Coast, and is rapidly losing the Midwest and Southwest. So what's Bush's winning coalition now? All he's got left to play on is his cultural conservative base in the Pacific Northwest, the Plains states (SD south to TX), a few border states (Missouri is the most notable), and the Solid South (with the exception of Florida). It's not a whole lot, and chunks of what’s left are going to start to fall apart.......

Read the rest at my new 'blog: http://displacedyankeedemocrat.blogspot.com

[quaoar]

1. It would be interesting

To see some polling data from some of the solid-red South -- Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina -- to see how much erosion, if any, in Bush's support there has been. I imagine there has been some, though not nearly enough to make Kerry competitive.
Too bad Roy Moore's not on the ballot.

[rasputin1952]

2. I am here in Nebraska, smack-dab in the middle of ...

the heartland. I can tell you, that the vocal support for bush, over the last 3 month's has become as rare as bison sightings out here. He is losing his base, and that can never be a good thing for any politician.

I am not saying that the Mid-West will rise up against bush, but I am saying, if they vote for him at all, it will be by rote, and grudgingly. One thing for sure, these people are down to earth, and when some of their sons and daughters started coming home from Iraq in coffins, for a war no one can justify, they began to question the "wisdom" of going into Iraq.

bush is toast, and I really can't believe that 47% of those polled support him and his disastrous policies. In all reality, I would put that number more in the 30% range.

[acmavm]

4. Where in Nebraska? I live in Omaha and I while I am currently working

as a temp at a title company and these women, at least the ones that I've talked to, are anti-bush, outside of my job I still run into a LOT of idiots who think bush* is the greatest thing since Post Toasties. And the higher up on the corporate ladder they are, the more pro-bush* they are.

Ever read the Omaha World Herald? Harold Anderson still writes his slaveringly republican slanted column. Try the editorial page and you'll see that there are way more pro-bush* letters than anti. Maybe it's different where you are. I hope so.

[quaoar]

3. Likewise

I'm in Alabama. Four years ago there were Bush bumper stickers everywhere. Not this time. I've seen as many Kerry stickers as Bush stickers. That ain't much of a poll, but it does show a roaring lack of enthusiasm.

[mourningdove92]

5. The downward spiral in Smirks numbers started slowly,

and now are moving more quickly. I anticipate the news from the Senate Intel report to further erode those numbers. Their desperation is obvious in the attacks they are launching. Hair? Hugging? Hate fest?

We all know what will be coming next. The repugs favorite calling card. SEX.