Most of you have probably seen the new poll from ABC and the Washington Post showing Bush’s approval rating sitting at 38 percent by now. I slept in a little, so I’m late to the party. Here’s a bit of the summary.
Bush’s overall job approval has remained below 50 percent for nearly a year while the proportion of the public critical of the president consistently has topped 50 percent. And perhaps more ominously for the president, 47 percent say they “strongly” disapproved of Bush’s handling of the presidency — more than double the percentage who strongly approved (20 percent) and the second straight month that the proportion of Americans intensely critical of the president was larger than his overall job approval rating.
That’s all well and good, but I really do wonder about the 20 percent of Americans who strongly approve Bush’s of handling of the presidency. Are these the dead-enders Rumsfeld used to tell us about, and what the hell are they thinking? The room starts to spin just thinking about it. Since this is a blog, a medium born in the fires of bad teenager poetry, I’ll indulge my inner teenaged dweeb and quote some U2 lyrics to mark my confusion.
I’m not just deaf and dumb
Staring at the sun
Not the only one
Who’s happy to go blind
It’s a lovely tune really. You should teach it to all of your freinds and colleagues who still support the the worst president ever.
That 20% are the Rapture crowd who think is God’s agent to bring about the end times.
I know many republicans, and the only ones who will still adamantly defend him are the fundies. It’s like he is ordained by God to lead our Nation out of the Darkness, and to question his integrity is blasphemy. Supposedly, many of them will also be fooled by the antichrist.
I guess I’m less concerned about the clueless 20% than I am about those who strongly disapprove but who are doing NOTHING about it. I know a lot of folks who rant to each other about Bush until they turn purple and their veins start looking like tree branches. Yet many of these people will not call their Congress Critters, write letters to the editor, sign a petition, march in a rally, or even truly educate themselves about candidates in the upcoming election. Forget the 20%. How to we get the majority off their butts?
Wonderful question. It’s been an education in apathy observing the outrages that don’t provoke enough outrage to stir the majority to action. I think as political junkies and activists, we’ll likely never understand the mindset of people who can’t be bothered to even vote, let alone do something so bold as to write a letter. That’s just not the sort of person who generally winds up on a site like this. I think the outrage has to be deeply personal for the majority of people, in order for them to add political activism to their already busy lives. I think we’re seeing that with the immigration reform protests – a deeply personal issue has sent millions out onto the streets to protest bad policy. I don’t think too many people saw that coming. Most issues just aren’t that personal though.
I think you hit the nail on the head.