Fox News poll: Most people want Bush out of office

[normalnoises]

Wow! There truely is light!

Friday, December 05, 2003

By Dana Blanton

The country remains half red and half blue this holiday season. Harkening back to a nation divided into "red states" (Republican) and "blue states" (Democratic) during the 2000 election, voters today are split about evenly on what holiday gift they would give President George W. Bush — four more years in the White House or retirement at the ranch in Texas.

This week’s FOX News poll finds that when asked which present they would like to give Bush, 43 percent of voters say "another four years in the White House" and 47 percent say they would give him retirement to the Crawford ranch. As was the case in the last presidential election, Bush receives stronger support among men than women. Men favor giving Bush another four years by a 48 percent to 44 percent margin, while women prefer to send him back to the ranch by 51 percent to 38 percent.

Not surprisingly, over 80 percent of Republicans would give their party’s leader four more years and over 80 percent of Democrats would send him home. Independents lean more toward making Bush a one-term president, as 49 percent would give him retirement and only 35 percent say another four years.

Despite the new Medicare (search) legislation — seen as a major victory for the president — and positive reports on the nation’s economy, the poll finds that on a more traditional reelect question Bush’s numbers still remain below 50 percent. If the election were held today, 43 percent say they would be more likely to vote for Bush and 36 percent for an unnamed Democratic candidate, with 21 percent unsure, which is essentially where the numbers stood in October.

Many voters seem skeptical that there is a Democratic opponent who can send Bush packing. Less than a third of voters (29 percent) rate the current field of Democratic candidates as "strong," but almost half (48 percent) see the field as "weak," including 34 percent of Democrats and 45 percent of independents.

Of all the 2004 Democratic contenders, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (search) is identified as the candidate with the best chance of beating Bush (14 percent), followed by retired Gen. Wesley Clark (search) (seven percent), Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt (search) (six percent), Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (search) (six percent) and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (search) (five percent). Five percent of voters think former Vice President Al Gore (search) has the best shot at ousting Bush and three percent think New York Sen. Hillary Clinton (search), even though both say they are not running, and 19 percent say "none" of the Democratic candidates can defeat Bush.

The national poll of registered voters was conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corporation (search) on December 3 and 4, one week after President Bush’s Thanksgiving Day trip to Baghdad.

There is widespread endorsement of the president’s surprise trip to Baghdad, with fully 78 percent of Americans saying they approve. An overwhelming 94 percent of Republicans approve of the trip, as do 64 percent of Democrats and 76 percent of independents. In addition, 80 percent of Americans say they think the trip was the "right thing for him to do" to show support for the troops as opposed to 10 percent who think it was the "wrong thing" to do because it was too dangerous.

An even higher percentage of the public, 87 percent, think it was appropriate for the Bush administration to ask reporters traveling with the president to stay mum about the trip until after leaving Baghdad due to security concerns.

Today over half of Americans (55 percent) think the action against Iraq was the right thing for the United States to do, down three percentage points since October and 10 points since July. Republican approval for the war remains strong (82 percent), but support among both Democrats and independents, while never as strong as it is among Republicans, now appears to be waning. In September, 38 percent of Democrats thought going to war with Iraq was the right thing to do and now that number stands at 32 percent. Among independents support dropped seven points in the same time period.

The president’s overall job approval rating holds steady at 52 percent — about where it has been since late September. While the president’s approval rating may not have moved up this week, the administration may see good news in the fact that his disapproval rating is down and currently stands at 34 percent. In mid-November the president’s disapproval rating hit 41 percent, the highest negative rating he had received of his term.

"Despite the nearly even division on reelecting Bush, many in the public don't want to criticize a wartime president," comments Opinion Dynamics President John Gorman (search). "While the trip to Iraq didn't cause many people to become favorable, it did give critics some pause as they assess it. However, as we've seen time and time again over the last few years, as an event that moved the president's rating fades, the country moves back toward its 50/50 split."

The voters' assessment of the outlook for the national economy continues to be positive, with over two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) now saying they think economic conditions will be better a year from now — up from 66 percent in April and 49 percent in March. A 57 percent majority thinks their personal financial situation will be better next year as well.

Are the Bush administration’s 2003 tax cuts helping to improve the economy? The "opinion-is-divided" theme continues, as 42 percent say they think the tax cuts are helping and 45 percent disagree. Republicans think the tax cuts are helping (68 percent to 21 percent), but Democrats are almost three times as likely to say the cuts are not helping to revive the economy (64 percent to 22 percent).

Polling was conducted by telephone December 3-4, 2003 in the evenings. The sample is 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of ±3 percentage points. Results are of registered voters, unless otherwise noted. LV = likely voters

More...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,105000,00.html

[youarehot99]

Yeah, I'll agree most people want him out of office. But when it comes to election time...I'm sure a majority of those people who want him out of office would rather have him there than any of the democrats running. Yeah they would still want him out, but compared to the dems. currently running, he's still gonna be there.

No Gore, No Chance...

[normalnoises]

Originally posted by youarehot99

Yeah, I'll agree most people want him out of office. But when it comes to election time...I'm sure a majority of those people who want him out of office would rather have him there than any of the democrats running. Yeah they would still want him out, but compared to the dems. currently running, he's still gonna be there.

No Gore, No Chance...

But to put it in a different light, Dole was ahead of Clinton but Clinton won and you look at Nixon who was also behind but still won so just because Bush is behind doesn't mean he will lose. Anything can happen. It's like football. "Any given Sunday."

Personally I'd rather see Bush lose.

[bigpoppanils]

Gore was a horrible presidential candidate. His campaign was a complete clusterfuck.

I wish McCain had won the republican primary in 2000. i would have voted for him.

[xpyrate]

Originally posted by bigpoppanils

I wish McCain had won the republican primary in 2000. i would have voted for him.

me too

[normalnoises]

VOTE KUCINICH

[youarehot99]

Did anyone see Sharpton on SNL last night? Funny stuff...but god help us all if he gets elected pres. He has no shot at winning the democratic ticket though, thank god.

[normalnoises]

Originally posted by youarehot99

Did anyone see Sharpton on SNL last night? Funny stuff...but god help us all if he gets elected pres. He has no shot at winning the democratic ticket though, thank god.

I don't expect sharpton to get far.

[ghhhhhost]

Originally posted by normalnoises

VOTE KUCINICH

i 2nd that...he may be of Croat descent..but its all good in the hood

[marksimons]

kucinich is the real deal.

[mrmatas2277]

Originally posted by bigpoppanils

I wish McCain had won the republican primary in 2000.

ditto....

[mr mahs]

Originally posted by marksimons

kucinich is the real deal.

:laugh:

[marksimons]

seriously, not a spoiled rich boy, he started out poor.

he's stood up to big business, in the thing where he was forced out of office because he wouldn't privatise the local electricty supplier.

I saw him speak in NY, in a small room, and he had these native americans do some singing before hand, very very relaxing.

if he was president, and messing around on the world stage I think things would be very different.

things would be different in america as well.

kucinich is the one who goes down best with the public from what I understand, but naturally he'll have the whole establishment against him...

[xpyrate]

Originally posted by mrmatas2277

ditto....

i cant believe i agree with you. im wondering how cold it is in hell