This CBS poll certainly won’t make George W. Bush very happy:
– How is the war going? Well, 23%; badly, 76%.
– Did the US do the right thing going to war with Iraq? Right thing, 35%; should have stayed out 61%.
– Is the country headed in the right direction? Yes, 24%; no, wrong direction, 72%.
– Approve or disapprove of the job Bush is doing? Approve, 30%; disapprove, 63%.
Republicans are still, mostly, rallying behind Bush / the war in Iraq and the surge, but the polls show that Americans think quite differently. They disapprove of the job Bush is doing in general and they disapprove of how he’s handling Iraq.
In other words, the moment is there for the anti-war crowd to push through legislation / bills. They can now put pressure on Bush, they can now demand of Bush to accept ‘benchmarks’ (or deadlines), etc. Sadly for before-mentioned crowd, the Democrats just gave up… and it pisses liberals off. For some examples, read:
– this post at MyDD
– this post at Daily Kos
– this post at TPM Café
Especially the second one is a must-read: quite some Daily Kos readers received an e-mail from the DCCC about the Iraq war spending bill. The DCCC tries to convince ‘the base’ that the bill is a victory for the Democrats. Sadly for the DCCC, the base is having none of it. Read both the post and some of the comments: I fear that the DCCC’s mailing list has become a little, umh, shorter.
It is crystal clear: the Democrats are afraid of Bush / the GOP. They fear that whatever they do, it will be used against them.
If I were American, I would most certainly not be a Democrat for several reasons: this cowardice is one of them (I respect you if you stand for what you believe, even if I disagree with you).
Cross-posted at my own blog.
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