Intensity of support

[JNB]

   Going though the various message boards on the net and talking to various people in person, I will say this with confidence, though many will say "duh". George W Bush is no Reagan. By that I mean is not only does he lack the communicative skills Reagan had, but also he lacks the unfied core support Reagan has.

  One thing that Reagan had, even during his low point during 82 recessiona dn much of 83 was that there was a fairly large core of die hard support, people who believed in him, people that would march 3 miles in the snow to support him. I really do not see that with Bush. With Bush, I see many people supporting him in a lukewarm fashion, but really except for a small group of business oriented voters that can be called Neo-Cons, I see nothing beyond lukewarm support, and much of the support is people holding their noses to support him. Despite his image as a far right wing conservative among Democrats/Liberals and many Independents, in terms of issues with substance that conservatives care about, such as globalism, immigration, fiscal responsibility, size and scope of govrenmnet and a few others, Bush has not govrened as a Conservative. Whats more is every nickel of political capital that Bush has spent on Domestic issues has been towrds tax cuts, and he got the tax cuts, but like it or not, tax cuts is not an issues that galvanises support out side of the small group of pro business neo-conservatives.

  On the other hand, as allready mentioned, Liberals/Democrats and many Independents hate Bush' guts not because of what he has done for the most part, but because of his image. All and all Bush has put himself in a very rotten position of being hated by those who oppose him, and lukewarm support from many people who should be his core supporters.

  Again, things can and will change betwene now and election day things can and will change, but as things stand now, the lack of intensity among Conservative swould doom Bush.

[??????????]

I would walk 3 miles in the snow for Bush. I support him in destroying our enemies.

[Ben.]

I'll walk three miles in the snow to get him out of office... doubt I will need to, but if I had to I would...  

[Michael Z]

GW Bush is by far the most polarising President since Nixon... though that didn't stop Nixon from winning by a landslide in '72, so perhaps that's a bad comparison to make.

At any rate, I disagree with the notion that his support is 'lukewarm' - most Republicans here will tell you otherwise. But those who hate Bush really hate him, the same way many Republicans despise the Clintons.

[opebo]

I would walk 3 miles in the snow for Bush. I support him in destroying our enemies.

This is what's going to get him relected - people may think he's not very smart, and makes a lot of mistakes, and even doesn't care about their petty troubles, but they do know he will fight and kill the enemy.  The other guy plans to simply give in - I find it hard to believe Americans will vote for that.

[JNB]

  Even with Sept 11th, foreign policy only goes so far, generally the tax cut crowd and the foreign policy crowd are one inthe same, a fairly small part of the electorate. The social conservatives, and many socially Libertarian fiscal Conservatives are less than impressed with the performance of GW Bush.

 

[??????????]

What about the Hundreds of Thousands of "Democrats for Bush" that are around Zel Miller even said so himself.

[JNB]

 Those Democrats have been voting Republican for deacdes on the presidential level.

[agcatter]

I see no particular passion for Kerry among Dems.  None whatsoever.

[Beet]

GW Bush is by far the most polarising President since Nixon... though that didn't stop Nixon from winning by a landslide in '72, so perhaps that's a bad comparison to make.

At any rate, I disagree with the notion that his support is 'lukewarm' - most Republicans here will tell you otherwise. But those who hate Bush really hate him, the same way many Republicans despise the Clintons.

Nixon was only polarizing with the anti-war left, with the vast majority of Democrats he was not that polarizing. If you don't believe me look at the approval ratings polls. In late 1972 a lot of Democrats approved of Nixon. In contrast, W.'s approval today among Democrats is no higher than his father's was in the summer of 1992.

[Beet]

I don't think you could find a single poll from the beginning of scientific polling that would show a more polarizing president than the current one. If scientific polling existed back then, perhaps Rutherford Hayes or William McKinley were more polarizing.

[classical liberal]

There is no pro-Kerry passion.  There is much anti-Bush passion that is expressed through support for Kerry.

[Beet]

Yeah, most of Kerry's support is just anti-Bush. I wouldn't say there's no Kerry passion at all, but most Kerry supporters just want him because he can replace Bush. And that's expressed through support for Kerry.

[Vasall des Midas]

One thing, JNB. It's not just Bush's image that makes him unpalatable to Liberals. Maybe one might say he's shown himself more as a Conservative on issues that Liberals care most about than on issues that Conservatives do.
Although in part at least this may be due to my European perspective...

[angus]

 Maybe you're right.  I'm a goy and therefore may not feel what a neocon feels, but I don't really much give a damn.  You can play identity politics all day if you want, but in the end, Kerry isn't very impressive either.  So we're left with a repeat of 2000, and I don't think Bush will allow himself to be embarassed by the Florida fiasco again.  What I'm saying is that, in an era of unspectacular candidates (like Ronald W. Reagan and William J. Clinton), the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.  Expect a Bush victory, unless we're all broke on November 1st.  

[CTguy]

I would walk 3 miles in the snow for Bush. I support him in destroying our enemies.

Yeah like you even have to put up with snow down in Florida...  Republicans are all talk and no...

[??????????]

Go to hell CT Guy I'm done with you.

This country is so polarized anymore nothing is getting done. The politicians in Congress have forgotten the art of compromise.

[DarthKosh]

Go to hell CT Guy I'm done with you.

This country is so polarized anymore nothing is getting done. The politicians in Congress have forgotten the art of compromise.

CTguy reminds of the other troll with the green kentucky.

[JNB]

 Lewis, I will admit on foreign policy issues I am somwhat of an isolationist, though not on the level Buchanan is. I will say that Neo-Cons who want to export Democracy to countries that have no Democratic tradition is not only a folls task, but a solution that will create more problem than solved, and whats worse, exporting consumerist culture will create even more problems.

  That said, as long as the Middle East keeps the flow of oil moving, and stops exporting terrorism, then let them do what they do, the US has no business there, and I would even go further and like all US troops be pulled from Europe.