Kudlow, good god, what a hosebag.
Like they say, the trends start on the coasts.
sfgate.com
Bush's support in California falling
steadily, poll shows
Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Facing a sputtering economy and ongoing chaos in
postwar Iraq, President Bush's support among
Californians continues to slip, with less than a
majority of voters backing him for a second term, a
Field Poll released today reveals.
Fifty percent of the state voters surveyed approve of
Bush's job performance -- down slightly from 51
percent support last month, but far below his peak of
76 percent support three months after the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks.
The slip in Bush's support in the state comes as
Democrats and independent voters, many of whom
backed the president after the attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon, are now questioning
his handling of the conflict in Iraq and his stewardship
of the economy.
"A lot of the issues that Bush is being evaluated on
now seem to be highly contentious, and the voters
are divided along party lines," said Mark DiCamillo,
the poll's director. "Right after Sept. 11, we had more
of a bipartisan, patriotic, rally-behind-the-president
effect, whereas now it's much more partisan and
back to politics as usual in evaluating the
performance of the president."
The poll released today also found that only 42
percent of California voters were inclined to re-elect
Bush, while 50 percent were not. That's a steep drop
from just one month ago, when 46 percent of state
voters were inclined to give him a second term, and
44 percent were not.
Bush has never had an easy time selling himself in
California, a state where he was defeated by a
whopping 1.3 million votes by Democrat Al Gore in
2000.
RAY OF HOPE DIMS
But the president may have seen a ray of hope in a
Field Poll in April that showed him leading the
yet-undetermined Democratic Party nominee by 45
percent to 40 percent.
"The Bush strategists were saying, 'Maybe this could
be the year when we could come and win California,'
" DiCamillo said. "Well, since then, this image has
faded, and now he's trailing by five points."
The new poll showed state voters preferred the
unnamed Democratic nominee to Bush, 47 percent
to 42 percent.
The anemic state of California's economy continues
to plague Bush. State voters, by 50 percent to 43
percent, disapproved of the president's handling of
the economy.
But Bush's numbers in the state may have been hurt
even more by the war in Iraq, which divided the
electorate and alienated some of the Democrats and
independent voters who had rallied behind the
president.
Asked whether the war in Iraq is worth the toll in lives
and other costs, 74 percent of Republicans said
"yes." But two-thirds of Democrats and 50 percent of
nonpartisans said the war was not worth the costs.
Overall, more than half of those polled -- 52 percent --
approved of Bush's handling of the war, which was
down from the 60 percent support he enjoyed in April,
when U.S. troops were still battling Saddam
Hussein's forces for control of Iraq.
70% OF DEMOS DISAPPROVE
In the new Field Poll, 82 percent of Republicans
approved of his handling of the conflict, while 70
percent of Democrats disapproved of his handling of
Iraq. Nonpartisan voters were almost evenly split.
DiCamillo said the "steady drip, drip, drip of bad
news" out of Iraq since Bush announced in May that
major combat operations were over had eroded
voters' confidence in him.
"It's having an effect," he said. "It really makes it
tougher for Bush to go outside of his party and get
support among Democrats and nonpartisans."
Some Republicans speculate the recall campaign
against California Gov. Gray Davis could help boost
Bush's chances in the state in 2004, particularly if
Davis is ousted and replaced by a Republican.
But Bush, who was in the state last week to raise
money for his re-election campaign, may not get
many requests from GOP candidates to appear at
his side - - particularly those who are trying to attract
Democratic and independent voters.
"If they want to reach across the aisle, (the
president) would be kind of a divisive figure,"
DiCamillo said. "Some would be turned off. Some
would say OK.
But it's a shrinking proportion who are attracted to
Bush outside of his party."
The random telephone survey of 1,036 California
adults -- yielding 629 registered voters -- was
conducted Aug. 10-13. It has a margin of error of plus
or minus 4.1 percentage points. |
