Thursday, October 11, 2007
How Am I Doing?
That's what most US presidents think during their presidency. Their popularity with the public is an important factor in how succesful they will be in accomplishing their objectives. Check out the popularity of our presidents: from our current occupant to Franklin Roosevelt. After that, check out this article on war and presidential popularity. How do you explain President Bush's low approval rating? Is it mostly related to the war in Iraq? Or their other factors involved? If so, what are they?
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Well, after i checked both the article and the presidential popularity table, i think Bush is not the only one that was enjoying low approval rate below Bush, there is Harry. Truaman whose' approval rate reached 22 percent. i beleive Bush's approval rate has dropped because of the war in Iraq, afghanista and as well as "no foreign policy" that he adopted in his administration. Of course, war is the factor why Bush's approval rate is low. in addition, the foreign policy that his administration adopted is even worest. for instance, the middle east peace proces, the Iranian nuclear standoff, the North Korean, and Darfur, Parma, his administration are hardly dealing any of these countries directly. This is a sign of weakness by the prisident, he should be standing up and deal these people eye to eye rather than third party communication.
After I checked the artical and Presidential Popularity table. I think President Bush popularity dropped after the war in Afghanistan, Iraq, conflict Irain nuclear and north korea and his foreign police and in the middle east peace process. I believe Bush's Popularty will be Keep dropping if he didn't change something.
I think the war contributes to Bushes low approval rating, but it is not the only thing. First off the economy is not doing well. Gas prices are high which directly affects the middle and lower classes. The stock market is not doing well and it is very unstable. The American dollar is at a low this affects the upper and middle class. What I’m saying is most popular presidents had a good economy to help them out. The public is happy when the money good. We hear everyday from the press that the housing market is bad, the job market is going over seas, and the economy is not strong. We the public, tend to blame the current administration for this. He also has very little charisma and does not inspirer confidence from the general public. When he speaker people tend to tune out. Regan read us the wrong statistic off a chart and we still like him. The public wanted to invite FDR in to their living rooms. We wanted to hear anything he had to say. Kennedy had charm and made us think of Camelot. I strongly feel the war is only a small peace of why Bush is unpopular.
The President's approval ratings are in the tank and the biggest reason is Iraq. But it isn't just the failed policy in Iraq that is bringing his numbers down, there are other reasons as well. The fact is that the administration's whole middle east policy is bad. There has been very little movement on the Israeli-Palestinian qustion. Our closest ally, Great Britain is pulling its troops out of Iraq. We don't even want to talk with Iran and Syria about important issues. The President is showing very little leadership on global warming, and we can't seem to get New Orleans rebuilt. Other than that the President is doing great. Not.
anonymous . i forgot to put my name on the post.
War alone cannot be used as a reason for poor popularity. George Bushs rating jumped from 51% - 85% in three days between 9/11-9/14 due to the attack and inevitability of war. This illustrates a good point, the length, handling of, and reason for the war affect the popularity more then just the war in general. The war has dragged on for 5 years despite George Bush declaring "Victory" days after the fall of Saddam, I don't know about most other people, but that to me is a true sign of ignorance and weakness on behalf of our Commander and Chief. Georges handling of the "war on terror" also shows a reason for poor ratings, to go into Afghanistan and other areas affected by Al Qaida would not have hurt him so badly, however, he chose to go into Iraq on a false basis for what appear to be personal reasons. Lastly (in relation to war) Bushs reason for going to war -a war on terror- (a good, patriotic cause) probably accounts for his 32% approval, this 32% of people must not realize there were no terrorists in Iraq. Other factors such as a failing economy due to a poor housing market, increasing unemployment, a huge national debt, and the low and still falling value of the dollar also factor into Bushs weak approval rating. And to mention the serious effects of political propoganda as 2008 rolls around. Also Bushs appointing of unqualified friends into very important positions such as: head of FEMA and the World Bank negatively affected his ratings. The list goes on and on, there are too many reasons for negative or positive ratings to occur to pin-point one, what about probelms in Iran, North Korea, Russia, Cuba (Guantanamo Bay), etc.
My main reason for disliking George Bush and his administration is the rampant corruption that is taking place. Hindsight is 20/20, and I believe we will have to wait until this regime ends before we see the depth of what has been taking place behind closed doors.
David Schreiber
Though the "War on Terror" may account for the large segment of unhappy Americans; many other factors are considered in determining approval-ratings. Issues entailing the economy, health care, social security, education, ethical standards (abortion, stem-cell research, ect) play an essential role in formulating the opinions illustarted by Gallup polls. Though no presidency has been considered perfect, the Bush administartion has done a superb job in setting a new standard for governmental incompetence. His focus on this "War on Terror" has diverted his attention from the important issues that are profoundly affecting American culture. Through the Bush administartion's leadership the value of the American dollar has significantly decreased, our individual freedoms have been infinged upon, the federal deficit has reached record highs, and little to no health care remains to be provided to those Americans who simply cannot afford it. Unfortunately, it will not be the George Bushes or the Dick Cheneys, or any member of that generation that will pay for the decisions they have made, it we will be my generation and my kids generations that will pay for their mistakes. I think the time has come for a new game plan Mr. President.
I believe that the reason for President Bush's low approval rating is closely attributed to the Iraq war but not exclusively. The Bush Administration appears to be corrupt, blanketing the U.S. citizens with false ideas of why we should go to war. There is also the uncertainty of a confrontation with Iran and the forever depleating fossil fuel.
The negativity towards the President also can be linked to the "issues" with the Republican party and the multiple scandals that are taking place.
I personally do not approve of George W. because of his lack of authority over situations with outside countries. He clearly has an agenda. An agenda that I dont approve. One thing I must include is would anyone deal with this situation better than him? What would be the outcome and what would their approval rating be?
Danielle Ramon
I think that President Bush has low approval ratings because it's easy to blame him. He's the head of the Bush Administration. When there are fingers pointed at him, he has no one to point at for his actions. Let's not forget that he has made a fool out of himself many times, both politically and personally. In the last few years we have had other economical problems that have directly affected the American people. When people start thinking why is this happening now? They look at what has changed. George W. just happened to be elected in to office at the same time a lot of long term problems started to surface.
Danielle said (in part) "George W. just happened to be elected in to office at the same time a lot of long term problems started to surface"
Many people agree with that statement.
Specifically, what long-term problems did he inherit?
First off we are not in War, congress has never declared War. Second thing nobody is perfect so don’t ever believe that the president is supposed to be.
I do believe his approval rating has dropped because of the fighting in Iraq. Is it the right reason to dislike a president? No, if our representatives (congress) really disproved of the president’s decisions they could immediately withdraw all troops from the Middle East.
The other reason his approval rating has dropped is because of the unstable economy right know. The economy was on a down hill turn when Bush went into office so it’s pretty hard to blame him for the cause. If Americans are so concerned with the well being of the American economy start by cutting taxes at the root of the problem welfare and all government assist programs that do know good but cripple our economy at the expense of the middle and upper class.
Todd Perreault
SHANE YORK
While I was looking through the tables, I noticed that every President when they first started had a high number of votes. It gradually dropped down as there term grew close to the end. I think the reason for Bushe's high votes in the begining of his term were because people liked him,and after the attack of 9/11 he wanted to go to war and thats what every one wanted to see.
Now his ratings have plumited to a low number because when people thought it was a good idea to go to war, they didnt realize it was going to be for five,six years and more. The people are getting tired of hearing about how many soldiers we've lost and how much money is being spent. The American people want to see all of our soldiers come home safe and sound.
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