‘He certainly has the wind in his face’

January 9, 2007

There seems to be some lingering confusion at the White House about public opinion, so for Tony Snow’s benefit, let’s take a moment to consider the extent to which Bush has lost the public.

President Bush will outline his “new way forward” in Iraq on Wednesday to a nation that overwhelmingly opposes sending more U.S. troops and is increasingly skeptical that the war can be won.

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday shows a daunting sales job ahead for the White House, which is considering a plan to deploy up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.

Those surveyed oppose the idea of increased troop levels by 61%-36%. Approval of the job Bush is doing in Iraq has sunk to 26%, a record low.

The Heritage Foundation’s Michael Franc, while suggesting Bush might be able to turn things around, said, “He certainly has the wind in his face.” That’s an understatement.

* Nearly half of those surveyed say the United States can’t achieve its goals in Iraq regardless of how many troops it sends.

* Eight in 10 say the war has gone worse than the Bush administration expected.

* More than half the public wants to see U.S. troops withdraw sometime between now and the end of 2007.

* Confidence in Bush is shot: 72% of Americans say Bush doesn’t have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq. (66% said the same of congressional Dems.)

The new Democratic congressional majority, meanwhile, seems to be enjoying strong public support.

It’s not just because the electorate is pleased with a change in leadership; Americans actually want Dems to grab the steering wheel.

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday-Sunday shows that Americans by nearly 2-to-1 want congressional Democrats, not President Bush, to have more influence over the direction the nation takes during the next year.

Democratic congressional leaders get their highest rating since Bush took office in 2001; 59% of those surveyed say their policies would move the country in the right direction. Republican congressional leaders get their lowest rating: 35% endorse their approach.

“Looks like a honeymoon,” says Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California at San Diego. “People can project all their hopes on to this new majority … but I wouldn’t expect that kind of favorable image to keep up forever.”

One more thing: several leading conservative voices started arguing over the weekend that Bush enjoys stronger national support than Nancy Pelosi. Like most of the arguments you’ll find on far-right blogs lately, this is easily debunked. According to Gallup, Bush has a 37% approval rating, 59% disapproval. In contrast, Pelosi enjoys a 44% approval rating, 22% disapproval.

I’d like to provide some homemade wind to put in his face.

  • I wonder where those numbers are going to be after tomorrows speech.
    26% approve of his handling of Iraq and 25% think Jesus is making a 007 comeback tour, anyone thinking these might be the same people.

  • After the BBC report I had thought all of this was a Rovian ploy to lower expectations, and then announcing that BUSH won’t be sending additional troops will come out as ‘reaching across the aisle’…

    But even as late as yesterday, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) said: “‘It was clear to me that a decision has been made for a surge‘ of at least 20,000 additional troops.” – (WashPo)

    The absolute gall of this man never ceases to amaze me. I hope the Dems put up a FIERY response to tomorrow’s speech.

  • The Republicans always try to muddle and confuse an issue, and often puke out a short, catchy (and irrelevant) slogan. The Dems simply need to say — again and again — “The American People will not pay to make Bush’s war bigger.” Or something like that.

    If folks get a reminder that THEY are funding a lethal disaster, maybe they’ll complain. The Dems do need to nail “BUSH” and “WAR” together.

  • So, 20% of the public believes that the war has not gone worse than the Bush administration expected? Who the hell are these people?

  • If smarmy, narcissistic and smug Bush shows up for the speach, I expect those polls numbers to fall even further.

  • WTF are we even discussing this for in the blogs, etc.? Here is the way I see it: We have a president that lied and manipulated intelligence to start a war of choice that has been mis-managed and mis-strategized, simply put, a colossal debacle; perhaps the worst in U.S. history. So now, 5 years later, the American public finally has come around to this preseumption, as well as many, many legislators, military active duty and retired professionals, and even members of Bu$h’s administration. YET, faced with almost a full scale revolt, even after Daddy sends in the Gulf War I crew to try and fix things, Bu$h STILL doesn’t get the fact that his views on the war DO NOT REPRESENT American citizens views, and he is trudging forward with his own ‘plan’ to try and save his ‘legacy’. The hell with the people getting blasted to bits in the desert stands, the hell with the families who lost loved ones, the hell with the taxpayer that funds this madness – Bu$h is going against the will of the VAST majority of citizens and military personnel. Is this not a democracy? Do we not have the power to remove this man? I am sick and tired about everyone talking about what he is doing instead of doing somehting about this! Goddamnit people!

    Sorry about the rambling diatribe; I have had enough… if I were just single with no family and nothing to lose…

  • So, 20% of the public believes that the war has not gone worse than the Bush administration expected? Who the hell are these people?
    –James Dillon

    Some are here, while others can be found here.

    Of course, all of them should be here.

  • Approval of the job Bush is doing in Iraq has sunk to 26%, a record low.

    So who, one may well ask, are these deluded 26%? Well, considering the polls’ margins of error, they are undoubtedly the same as this 25% described in Sunday’s “This Week in God” right here on CB:

    Among other predictions for the U.S. in 2007: One in four, 25 percent, anticipates the second coming of Jesus Christ.

    It’s that indescribably optimistic Armageddon crowd, of course, who trust that Bush will lead us unerringly to that promised day. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!

  • MonkeyShines may have the wind in his face but that won’t stop him from trying to blow it up our skirts.

    And now I have that bloody stupid sappy “Wind beneath my wings,” song stuck in my head. Aaargh!

  • I am really concerned about the 2 in 10 people who don’t “say the war has gone worse than the Bush administration expected.”

    I think that everyone from President Bush on down thinks the war is going worse than expected. I suppose you could find someone who thought the war would have turned nuclear already and, therefore, anything short of the end of the world is better than expected.

    Saying things are worse than expected doesn’t mean we can’t win or aren’t winning. It just says that you were expecting something better than the current quagmire.

  • Who the hell are these people?
    ————————————————————–James Dillon

    Unemployed College Republicans…Tom DeLay’s former Congressional staff…Duke Cunningham, in many of his myriad personalities…people buried in your local cemetary…fans of Bill O’Reilly (the people buried in the cemetary who aren’t quite in the cemetary yet—but they’re really, really close). Take your pick. It’s a mix-n-match kind of thing….

  • I can’t recall the percentage, but one survey on media bias revealed that some of those polled said that C-span is part of the”liberal press.” Go figure.

  • Eight in 10 say the war has gone worse than the Bush administration expected.

    I think the other 20% might also include those on the left who are so cynical as to believe that the Bush administration actually did expect the war to go this bad. If not, then I, too, am at a loss as to why anyone would disagree with that statement.

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