The Democratic majority is still in the (GASP!) majority regarding the Iraq war

By: phriendlyjaime
Published On: 12/12/2006 1:45:00 PM

A new poll has been released regarding American's confidence in the President's handling of the Iraq war.  7 out of 10 Americans disapprove of the way Mr. Bush is handling the war in Iraq.  6 in 10 Americans feel that the war was not worth staring in the first place.  This is the highest percentage of people against the war and the President since the March 2003 invasion.

The poll offers a lot more information, and compares polls taken at the start of President Clinton's seventh year as POTUS.  The differences in American opinion are stark and no doubt surprising to Republicans.

In this poll, 36 percent approve of how Bush is handling his job, which is the second lowest percentage in Post-ABC polls since Bush took office in 2001; 62 percent disapprove.

And as has been true throughout this year, the intensity of sentiment runs starkly against the president: Those who strongly disapprove of Bush's job performance outnumber those who strongly approve by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.

Bush's tepid approval ratings and the public's deep doubts about the war in Iraq put the president in a tight political position as he prepares, for the first time, to face a Congress controlled by the Democrats.

By contrast, Bill Clinton entered the seventh year of his presidency riding a wave of public support following his impeachment in December 1998; at the time, two-thirds of Americans approved of his job performance. (Ronald Reagan's job approval in December 1986 was 49 percent.)

Unfortunately, it is still clear that the angry and polarizing right wing of the Republican party and their supporters have not yet come to grips with reality.  As we see more and more Republican elected officials come out AGAINST the POTUS, it seems that their supporters are still more concerned with being "right" than "correct."
To regain public support, Bush would need to make inroads among independents and political moderates, two groups that went heavily for Democratic congressional candidates last month.

While Bush enjoys significant support among Republicans (77 percent approve), just three in 10 independents, and three in 10 moderates, approve of his job performance. Democrats continue to give an overwhelmingly negative assessment of how Bush is handling his job (86 percent disapprove, 75 percent do so "strongly").

The POTUS is going to have to start working with the majority of the country, whether he likes it or not.  It is explicitly clear that he is quickly becoming a member of a very small percentage of Americans, and the elected majority will simply not stand for it.

You can read the article in it's entirety here.

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