The Message in the Sinking Polls
By BOB HERBERT
IN AMERICA
July 2, 2001
From The New York Times
The past two weeks have not been good
ones for George W. Bush.
Even before the news emerged that the
indispensable Dick Cheney needed more work
done on his heart, a series of public opinion
polls was giving the president agita.
An article about the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll was headlined, "Bush
Loses Favor Despite Tax Cut and Overseas Trip."
Last Thursday The Wall Street Journal was reporting, "Bush's Approval Rating Slips
to 50%, a 5-Year Presidential Low."
The Times said its poll showed that "despite his first overseas trip as president and the
passage of his sweeping measure to cut taxes, President Bush's standing as a leader
on both domestic and foreign fronts has diminished considerably."
The Journal said, "Five months into his presidency, George W. Bush faces sagging
approval ratings and an array of issues tilted toward his Democratic opposition." The
Journal added that "paradoxically" the unfriendly poll results could give Mr. Bush an
opportunity "to regain the initiative.
They could. I suppose. Anything could happen. But that would require an exhibition of leadership qualities that so far have not been seen in this president. Rather than rallying the country to a new and compelling vision of the future — his vision — Mr. Bush has appeared content to quietly follow the lead of his senior advisers, especially Mr. Cheney.
The president, to put it mildly, does not seem vigorously engaged in the very tough job
of being president. And that's hurting him.
"His personality," said Betty Thomas, a 62-year-old Republican who responded to The
Times's poll, "doesn't inspire a lot of confidence."
Mr. Bush worked hard and successfully for passage of his tax cuts. But he has shown little leadership and remains out of step with a majority of Americans on many other issues. His ratings in the Times poll on energy, on the environment and on foreign policy were well below 50 percent.
And by a wide margin, a majority of respondents
said his administration favors the rich over the middle class and the poor.
Mr. Bush has maintained the support of his conservative base. "But," as Robert
Teeter, one of the pollsters who conducts the Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey,
said, "he doesn't have anywhere near the share of the middle he needs to have a
governing coalition."
This is the kind of problem that is much easier for a politician like Bill Clinton to turn
around. Whenever Mr. Clinton was in trouble (which, of course, was all the time), he
was able to draw on his extraordinary political instincts, his intelligence, his
communication skills and his eagerness to work as long and as hard as it took to get
the job done.
Those are not Mr. Bush's strong points. Most Americans see Dick Cheney, heart
problems and all, as doing most of the administration's heavy lifting. And by not
forcefully countering the impression that he is disengaged, Mr. Bush gives free rein to
those who would characterize him in the worst possible ways.
It's a wonder his approval ratings aren't lower. There are now book- length editions of
his misadventures with the English language ("I know how hard it is to put food on
your family"), and he is a figure of constant ridicule on late-night television.
The public is probably predisposed to like Mr. Bush. He has that affable, aw-shucks,
all-American personality. But he comes across as so detached, so removed from the
major issues of the day, so uninterested in them, that he's in danger of coming to be
seen as president in name only.
There's a reason why Dick Cheney's health problems get the kind of coverage
ordinarily reserved for the president's health.
A major legislative development last week helped to illustrate how the public's view of
President Bush is being shaped, and not for the better.
On Friday the Senate passed a popular patients' rights bill that was vehemently
opposed by the health insurance industry. Nine Republican senators voted for the bill,
but Mr. Bush has threatened to veto it. And that's a problem.
Fairly or unfairly, the man who campaigned for president as a Republican with a heart, a compassionate conservative, appears to be favoring the cold, heartless insurers over ordinary Americans struggling with illness and their finances.
It's exactly the kind of stance that causes poll numbers to sink.
nytimes.com |
