Why Not Then?
I was doing my nightly run-through of headlines on CNN.com when I came across this.
The link goes to an article about a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll that surveyed Americans and asked them whether, if an election were held today, they would vote for a faceless Democrat or George Bush, and 55% would vote for the Democrat. In my experience, I've found generic candidates, as is the case with Bush's competition in the poll, score 3-5% lower than an actual contender, so if the election were held today, it would be a tremendous landslide.
The question here is: why now? What has made 6-10% of Americans decide Bush was not the right choice? Why did they feel otherwise last November? Or, was Kerry such a terrible candidate that he actually bucked trends and was less attractive to voters than a generic candidate?
If it was the latter, then it is a failure of the Democratic party to connect with the average American, which needs calibrating. But if it was because American's perception of Bush has changed, this is a serious issue. Bush has not changed one bit since the election, or, for that matter, since 2000. What this means is that Americans were unable to see Bush for what he really is - a narrow-minded religious zealot bent on securing the world for corporate interests and capitalism. I don't know what events caused this sea change in perception, but it is far too late to be worth anything. Americans should have taken an active stance in preventing the White House from pushing through a veritable declaration of war on Iraq.
If anything, this poll has made me even more pessimistic about the state of this country.
The link goes to an article about a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll that surveyed Americans and asked them whether, if an election were held today, they would vote for a faceless Democrat or George Bush, and 55% would vote for the Democrat. In my experience, I've found generic candidates, as is the case with Bush's competition in the poll, score 3-5% lower than an actual contender, so if the election were held today, it would be a tremendous landslide.
The question here is: why now? What has made 6-10% of Americans decide Bush was not the right choice? Why did they feel otherwise last November? Or, was Kerry such a terrible candidate that he actually bucked trends and was less attractive to voters than a generic candidate?
If it was the latter, then it is a failure of the Democratic party to connect with the average American, which needs calibrating. But if it was because American's perception of Bush has changed, this is a serious issue. Bush has not changed one bit since the election, or, for that matter, since 2000. What this means is that Americans were unable to see Bush for what he really is - a narrow-minded religious zealot bent on securing the world for corporate interests and capitalism. I don't know what events caused this sea change in perception, but it is far too late to be worth anything. Americans should have taken an active stance in preventing the White House from pushing through a veritable declaration of war on Iraq.
If anything, this poll has made me even more pessimistic about the state of this country.
posted by Jimmy at 9:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home