Today's Article
How will Bush's lack
of popularity effect
Republicans in
upcoming elections?
of popularity effect
Republicans in
upcoming elections?
The American Spark
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Will Bush's Low Approval Ratings Hurt Republicans In Upcoming
Election Cycle?
By Cliff Montgomery - May 8th, 2007
Well, it had to happen...
George W. Bush's approval rating has free-fallen to 28 percent in a Newsweek Poll released on Saturday. It is
an all-time low for Bush...at least in the Newsweek survey.
Almost two out of three Americans--a whopping 62 percent--now realize Bush's actions in Iraq show he is
"stubborn and unwilling to admit his mistakes," according to Newsweek.
Only 30 percent cling to the notion that George W. Bush's Iraq misadventure instead shows he is "willing to
take political risks" to do what's right. This even though both the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and
a well-publicized independent investigation proved that Bush Administration claims of vast stores of Iraqi
WMDs and Hussein ties to al-Qaeda--the only reasons for the war--were dead wrong.
Bush's low poll numbers may also be casting a dark shadow over Republican hopes for keeping the White
House in 2008. Democratic front-runners trample top Republican contenders in head-to-head match-ups
across the board, according to the Newsweek poll.
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) most easily trumps the top Republicans in the race. Obama bettered
Republican front-runner and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani by 7 percentage points--50 percent to
43 percent--among registered voters responding to the poll.
Obama bested Senator John McCain (R-AZ) by 52 percent to 39 percent and trampled former Massachusetts
Governor and neo-conservative darling Mitt Romney by 58 percent to 29 percent, Newsweek wrote.
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), the front-runner among Democratic voters, beat out Giuliani by a close 49
percent to 46 percent, topped McCain 50 percent to 44 percent and easily beat Romney, 57 percent to 35
percent.
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards also did quite well in the match-ups, beating Giuliani by 6 points,
McCain by 10 points and Romney by 37 points in the Newsweek poll.
The poll was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Princeton study interviewed 1,001 adults 18 and older, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4
percentage points.
If this wasn't enough, the abrupt resignations last week of two Republican House members from their
committee assignments have brought ethics issues back into the limelight, potentially damaging GOP hopes to
retake Congress next year.
On successive days--Wednesday and Thursday--Reps. John Doolittle (R-CA) and Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
acknowledged FBI raids on their wives' businesses. Each politician proclaimed his innocence. But these were
only the most recent embarrassments in a series of charges which have kept the ethical heat on the
Republican Party after being chased from power on Capitol Hill.
Two other Republican lawmakers face possible ethics investigations amid charges that they pressured a U.S.
attorney in New Mexico to indict Democrats before last year's congressional elections.
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA), already under FBI investigation for a series of land deals, is now facing
Democratic-sponsored ads charging that he lied about a land sale on which he failed to pay taxes.
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) still faces an FBI investigation of his work during his tenure as chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee; this month, his campaign filings reveal that he has accumulated $892,951.69 in
legal fees since July. And Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) has for the first time reported large legal fees-- $15,620.60
--in his campaign filing this month. Perhaps that's because he's fighting charges that he used taxpayer-funded
congressional staff and resources for partisan political work.
Of course, it should be stated that most of these are indeed still just charges--there is yet no proof of the
majority of these accusations. Still...
"Everybody's kind of a little bit numb," Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) told the Washington Post. "There's this,
'What else can happen now?' feeling going around here."
The Republican ethics issue again exploded with the FBI raids involving Doolittle and Renzi.
Doolittle had been trying to polish his tarnished image when he revealed that the FBI had raided the Doolittle's
Northern Virginia home, where his wife runs her business.
Both Doolittle and his wife have been tied to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff; to make matters worse, and he
has also acknowledged obtaining funds for a defense contractor linked to the bribery conviction of then-Rep.
Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA). Under pressure from Republican leaders, Doolittle surrendered his
much-desired seat on the House Appropriations Committee, even as his attorneys claim he has done nothing
wrong.
Renzi notified House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH) that the FBI had raided his wife's business
establishment in Sonoita, Arizona, the ironically-named Patriot Insurance Agency. The raid was part of a
continuing investigation into Renzi-drafted land-swap legislation which would have enriched a political backer.
Renzi relinquished his seat on the sensitive House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence "to avoid any
unnecessary distractions on the panel and its critical work," according to Boehner.
Election Cycle?
By Cliff Montgomery - May 8th, 2007
Well, it had to happen...
George W. Bush's approval rating has free-fallen to 28 percent in a Newsweek Poll released on Saturday. It is
an all-time low for Bush...at least in the Newsweek survey.
Almost two out of three Americans--a whopping 62 percent--now realize Bush's actions in Iraq show he is
"stubborn and unwilling to admit his mistakes," according to Newsweek.
Only 30 percent cling to the notion that George W. Bush's Iraq misadventure instead shows he is "willing to
take political risks" to do what's right. This even though both the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and
a well-publicized independent investigation proved that Bush Administration claims of vast stores of Iraqi
WMDs and Hussein ties to al-Qaeda--the only reasons for the war--were dead wrong.
Bush's low poll numbers may also be casting a dark shadow over Republican hopes for keeping the White
House in 2008. Democratic front-runners trample top Republican contenders in head-to-head match-ups
across the board, according to the Newsweek poll.
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) most easily trumps the top Republicans in the race. Obama bettered
Republican front-runner and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani by 7 percentage points--50 percent to
43 percent--among registered voters responding to the poll.
Obama bested Senator John McCain (R-AZ) by 52 percent to 39 percent and trampled former Massachusetts
Governor and neo-conservative darling Mitt Romney by 58 percent to 29 percent, Newsweek wrote.
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), the front-runner among Democratic voters, beat out Giuliani by a close 49
percent to 46 percent, topped McCain 50 percent to 44 percent and easily beat Romney, 57 percent to 35
percent.
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards also did quite well in the match-ups, beating Giuliani by 6 points,
McCain by 10 points and Romney by 37 points in the Newsweek poll.
The poll was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Princeton study interviewed 1,001 adults 18 and older, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4
percentage points.
If this wasn't enough, the abrupt resignations last week of two Republican House members from their
committee assignments have brought ethics issues back into the limelight, potentially damaging GOP hopes to
retake Congress next year.
On successive days--Wednesday and Thursday--Reps. John Doolittle (R-CA) and Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
acknowledged FBI raids on their wives' businesses. Each politician proclaimed his innocence. But these were
only the most recent embarrassments in a series of charges which have kept the ethical heat on the
Republican Party after being chased from power on Capitol Hill.
Two other Republican lawmakers face possible ethics investigations amid charges that they pressured a U.S.
attorney in New Mexico to indict Democrats before last year's congressional elections.
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA), already under FBI investigation for a series of land deals, is now facing
Democratic-sponsored ads charging that he lied about a land sale on which he failed to pay taxes.
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) still faces an FBI investigation of his work during his tenure as chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee; this month, his campaign filings reveal that he has accumulated $892,951.69 in
legal fees since July. And Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) has for the first time reported large legal fees-- $15,620.60
--in his campaign filing this month. Perhaps that's because he's fighting charges that he used taxpayer-funded
congressional staff and resources for partisan political work.
Of course, it should be stated that most of these are indeed still just charges--there is yet no proof of the
majority of these accusations. Still...
"Everybody's kind of a little bit numb," Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) told the Washington Post. "There's this,
'What else can happen now?' feeling going around here."
The Republican ethics issue again exploded with the FBI raids involving Doolittle and Renzi.
Doolittle had been trying to polish his tarnished image when he revealed that the FBI had raided the Doolittle's
Northern Virginia home, where his wife runs her business.
Both Doolittle and his wife have been tied to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff; to make matters worse, and he
has also acknowledged obtaining funds for a defense contractor linked to the bribery conviction of then-Rep.
Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA). Under pressure from Republican leaders, Doolittle surrendered his
much-desired seat on the House Appropriations Committee, even as his attorneys claim he has done nothing
wrong.
Renzi notified House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH) that the FBI had raided his wife's business
establishment in Sonoita, Arizona, the ironically-named Patriot Insurance Agency. The raid was part of a
continuing investigation into Renzi-drafted land-swap legislation which would have enriched a political backer.
Renzi relinquished his seat on the sensitive House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence "to avoid any
unnecessary distractions on the panel and its critical work," according to Boehner.