Americans Show Concerns on Bush Agenda : NYTIMES-54% FAVOR DEMOCRATS

[Karenca]

Americans Show Clear Concerns on Bush Agenda

November 23, 2004
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JANET ELDER

Americans are optimistic about the next four years under
President Bush, but have reservations about central
elements of the second-term agenda he presented in
defeating Senator John Kerry, according to the latest New
York Times/CBS News Poll.

Americans are at best ambivalent about Mr. Bush's plans to
reshape Social Security, rewrite the tax code, cut taxes
and appoint conservative judges to the bench. There is
continuing disapproval of Mr. Bush's handling of the war in
Iraq, with a plurality now saying it was a mistake to
invade in the first place.

Nearly two-thirds of all respondents - including 51
percent of Republicans - said it was more important to
reduce deficits than to cut taxes, a central element of Mr.
Bush's economic agenda.

The poll reflected the electoral feat of the Bush campaign
this year. He won despite the fact that Americans
disapproved of his handling of the economy, foreign affairs
and the war in Iraq. There has been a slight increase in
the number of Americans who believe the nation should never
have gone into Iraq. A majority of Americans continue to
believe the country is going in the wrong direction,
traditionally a warning sign for an incumbent.

Even as two-thirds of respondents said they expected Mr.
Bush to appoint judges who would vote to outlaw abortion, a
majority continue to say they want the practice to remain
either legal as it is now, which was Mr. Kerry's position,
or to be legal but under stricter limits.

Americans said they opposed changing the Constitution to
ban same-sex marriage, which Mr. Bush campaigned on in the
final weeks of his campaign. A majority continue to support
allowing either same-sex marriages or legally recognized
domestic partnerships for gay people.

The public appears ambivalent about the two proposals that
Mr. Bush has identified as his major domestic initiatives
for a second term: rewriting the Social Security system and
reshaping the tax code, including more tax cuts.

In the poll, more than 6 in 10 of the respondents said people
with higher incomes should pay a greater proportion of
their income in taxes.

The poll also found little confidence among
Americans that Mr. Bush would assure the future solvency of
the program: 51 percent said that Mr. Bush was unlikely to
"make sure Social Security benefits are there for people
like me."

In this poll, when allowed freely to name the issue that
was most important in their vote, 6 percent chose moral
values, although smaller numbers named issues like abortion
and same-sex marriage. 5 percent chose
abortion, 4 percent chose stem cell research and 2 percent
chose same-sex marriage.

The top issue was the economy and jobs, which was cited by
29 percent of respondents.

Pat Gilbert, a Republican from Battle Creek, Mich., said,
"The two sides will be as far apart as can be forever.''

By 48 percent to 40 percent, respondents said they believed
four more years of a Bush presidency would divide the
nation more than it would unite it.

31 percent of respondents said they thought that evangelical
Christians had too much influence over the administration.
By contrast, 66 percent said they thought big business had
too much influence over the administration.

Americans now have a better opinion
of the Democratic Party than of the Republican Party: 54
percent said they had a favorable view of Democrats,
compared with 39 percent with an unfavorable view. By
contrast, 49 percent have a favorable view of Republicans,
compared with 46 percent holding an unfavorable one.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/23/national/23poll.html?ex=1102489087&ei=1&en=3de951699d0a0886

[ahyums]

1. "Americans now have a better opinion of the Democratic Party than of the

Republican Party: 54
percent said they had a favorable view of Democrats,
compared with 39 percent with an unfavorable view. By
contrast, 49 percent have a favorable view of Republicans,
compared with 46 percent holding an unfavorable one."

and yet still the Democrats have had about as bad an election as they possibly could have. Incredible isn't it.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. But if this trend continues...

And it most likely will, considering what we have seen in the last three weeks alone, by the 2006 elections, there is gonna be some hell to pay for some folks.

Look, Dear Leader is not going to pull something out of a magic hat that is going to ameliorate the economic, social and world policy trends we already see affecting the polls. These guys are idealogues, and their whole raison de'etre is to cram their ideology down our throats. There is something to piss off everyone in it, too.

They will fail. We, on the other hand, will bear the brunt of it. THAT is where they will lose in 2006.

In the meantime, I fully expect major street actions by the spring.

[Chimpanzee]

4. They won't lose the 2006 elections if they are allowed to cheat again

[Robert Oak]

3. either the election was rigged or...

They plain voted on something other than their brain.

Suckers. You'd think by now, which such a consumer propaganda culture,
they would not be so vunerable to image manipulation...but instead
of getting immune...they almost seem to be flocking to the lie out of fear.

[Scout1071]

6. I'm pretty sure

that same 54% did indeed vote for Kerry.

[tinfoil_beret]

11. Are you kidding me?

Kerry received at least 65% of the vote. Whence then came the incumbent's 20 million extra votes? Thin air. They're called vapor votes. End of story.

[LisaL]

8. Not really.

Unfortunately, Diebold voting machines favor Republicans.

[Warpy]

9. Bush voters are weird

They'll tell you they don't agree with Bush on the economy or on Iraq. They'll tell you they don't like the way he runs things. But they cannot tell you why they voted for him. They just "did."

Are they victims of subliminable advertising? Mass hypnbosis? Mass psychosis? Remember, these are people who are competent in their daily lives, hold down jobs, raise their kids, pay their taxes on time. Something else has got to be at work here.

I just hope we can figure out what it is and counter it soon.

[budkin]

5. None of these analysis pieces apply when fraud is factored in...

I hate reading all these articles that are like "well even though the majority of Americans disapproved of Bush and his policies he somehow managed to defy the odds and get reelected." Goddamn this shit pisses me off.

[googly]

7. Bush would have lost badly if the economy was not improving...

Shrub got real lucky with the timing of the taxcuts which may have spurred the economy out of the recession. I wish these rightwingers who wanted to reduce deficits instead of reducing taxes had their way, since
then taxes would have gone up on the rich causing economy to drag down and resulting in Bush defeat.

[acmavm]

10. Between the fraud and the complete and blatant stupidity of those

that voted for bush*, we are screwed. They FAVOR agendas supported by the democrats but voted republican. That just proves to me that rather than voting their own best interests, as well as the best interests of the children, grandchildren, etc., they voted for the republican candidate so that they could say that their 'party' won.

That and some sick and perverse ideology that they seem to see as reflecting decency and compassion. Their sick idea of Christianity means that we now have to find new meanings for both words since they claim them for themselves but their mouths and their actions reflect neither. Their actions have nothing in common with decency or compassion. The bush*bots feel that only those who think (please excuse the exaggeration) and act like they do are the only people to whom these words apply.

Funny thing about all of this is that they don't have the faintest clue about the origins of the republican party. But what the hell, I don't expect any intelligence from these people, and I'm not likely to be disappointed by seeing any.

[New Earth]

12. my god, the irony

someone please tell me wtf is going on here. so the NYT will report on this poll, yet refuses to fairly cover election investigations?

this poll is like saying, 'i favor the Democratic party over the Republican party, but for no good reason, i think i'm gonna vote for Bush.'.

YEAH OK.