New Poll Suggests Bush Losing Independents In Droves

A new poll showing consumer displeasure on how the economy is being handled has a result showing an even more significant trend: President George Bush is losing independent voter support in bushel-barrels and any support he had among Democrats has all but evaporated.

Here’s the most dramatic paragraph:

Among Republicans (36% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 84% approve of the way Bush is handling his job and 12% disapprove. Among Democrats (38% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 18% approve and 77% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job. Among Independents (26% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 17% approve and 75% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job as president.

The significance:

• This reflects fact that during the election campaign Bush and the GOP had the campaign of John Kerry run by the hapless Bob Shrum as a yard stick against which voters could measure measure their options.
• Since the election there have been several issues that would cause independent voters to defect since they were issues not on their agenda and with goals not the goals of most independent voters: Congressional/White House intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, the nuclear option on judicial filibusters, and continued news coverage involving the White House’s stance on various environmental issues and funding/ideological issues related to Public Broadcasting.
• Karl Rove’s recent comments suggesting Democrats wanted to call Dr. Phil in to decide how to respond to 911, were not involved in the documented strong bipartisan support given to the White House in 911′s aftermath, and that Democrats are pleased when American soldiers die in the field are not the kind of comments that will likely re-attract defecting independent voters.

This poll’s conclusion on independents is also discussed by Daily Kos and Andrew Sullivan.

Yet another view of how Rove’s We Are The Only Patriots In The Country rhetoric is playing can be seen in comments by Michael Totten who writes about Rove’s comments:

It certainly doesn’t make me more likely to vote Republican next time. It’s not going to make anybody more likely to vote for Republicans next time. It’s not exactly news that conservatives are more hawkish than liberals. But Ann Coulter type rants are repellent to many people who prefer the foreign policy of Republicans to the foreign policy of Democrats.

I will probably vote for Democrats in 2006. My opinions on the two parties are divided. I can go either way, depending on what we’re talking about. The Republicans dominate all three branches of government, and voting Democratic is a balance-restoring corrective. I have no idea which party I will vote for in the 2008 presidential election. No idea at all. It depends on way too many unpredictable variables.

If the Republican Party were less polarizing and obnoxious, though, I might consider actually joining it. Every former Democrat has to deal with this question. Do we join the right, or do we halt our rightward drift in the center? The reaction on the right to Karl Rove’s hatchet job tells me I’m right to stop in the center.

UPDATE: My DD’s Jerome Armstrong has a fascinating analysis of these poll numbers — and predicts what will come next. Hint: it may not be pretty.