Whatever political capital or “mandate” George W. Bush had coming out of his narrow victory in the 2004 election is gone.
The latest poll numbers for him are dismal; his job approval rating sits at 44%, versus a 54% DISapproval number; 56% think the country is headed in the wrong direction, while only 38% believe we are on the proper course. The Republican Congress faces numbers that are even slightly worse; 37% approve of the job they are doing, while a full 58% disapprove of their performance.
Why are these numbers so low? It seems it has a lot to do with the (accurate) perception that the Republicans are overstepping their bounds as a result of the power they have. For instance, the “moral value” issue is no longer helping them; 54% of people surveyed said the government should be less involved in the morals and values of the country. Another poll showed that 55% believe Republicans are using the federal government to interfere in the private lives of Americans. Moreover, Americans (57% of them) do not want them to further strengthen their power and influence by getting rid of the filibuster for judicial nominees. Contrary to the Republican belief that the Terri Schiavo case would excite the pro-life base, an overwhelming 76% disapproved of Congressional involvement in the matter, and only 34% approved of the way George W. Bush handled the situation.
In the 2004 election, a tiny majority of the American public decided to give George W. Bush and the Republicans a second chance; Bush promised to try to bring the country together, and for a few weeks, people even seemed to believe him. Since the election, however, the Republicans have worked to expand their power even more, advancing their right-wing agendas under the guise of a “mandate” from the American people. It is now clear that the people are not getting what they expected; they are dissatisfied, discontented with the performance of the Republicans in power.
It will be interesting to see if the Republicans care enough to listen and moderate their views back to the mainstream, to work WITH the Democrats to actually accomplish something positive, or if 2006 will be a banner year for us Democrats.
(Note: All poll numbers come from http://www.pollingreport.com, and were up to date as of 3:00pm on Sunday, April 10.)
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