shrub's lead in the poll has slipped from the previous reading.
Washington Post, September 28
Americans remain deeply divided over Bush's presidency. As many are dissatisfied with the direction of the country as are satisfied (49 percent each), according to the Post-ABC poll, and overall those surveyed give the president identical negative marks on his handling of Iraq and the economy.
Forty-seven percent approve of the job Bush is doing on the economy and on Iraq, with 50 percent saying they disapprove. After two weeks of bad news from Iraq that has included the beheadings of two Americans, more U.S. casualties and continued bombings, a narrow majority (51 percent to 46 percent) once again says the war was not worth fighting. Only on his handling of terrorism does Bush receive strongly positive marks, with 59 percent approving and 38 percent disapproving.
(funny how nearly identical numbers, 51 to 46, are described as a "narrow majority" when the numbers aren't favorable for shrub but 51 to 45 is described as "solid" or some such nonsense when they're favorable for shrub....really funny)
Voters in the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Missouri and Wisconsin gave voice to the concerns recorded in those poll numbers.
Trina Moss, 47, a single mother from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., lost her job of 25 years last month when the company she worked for closed down. She will vote Democratic for the first time since she was 18. "I don't care what Bush is saying -- he's lying," she said. "I saw what was happening to this economy. It really didn't hit me until it happened to me. . . . I feel so strongly that Bush is responsible for the factory closing, because of outsourcing, that I've signed up to help the Kerry campaign get out the vote."
Stacey Waechter, 25, lives in the St. Louis suburbs. A student who is a part-time caregiver, Waechter worries about a lack of access to health care and what she sees as a shrinking middle class. "We have such problems in our community," she said, "homeless people, single mothers -- that until we deal with these issues going on here . . . how can we fix another country?"
Don Hoffmeister, 72, a retiree who lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer, Wis., said he has become disillusioned over Iraq, though he supported the U.S. invasion. "It's gone on way too long," he said. "There are very optimistic comments out of our president and every day there's more Americans being killed, aren't there?" He added, sarcastically: "I don't follow this very closely, but supposedly the war is over and we have won, right? Right!"
Despite these concerns, Bush leads Kerry in a hypothetical ballot test, 51 percent to 45 percent among likely voters, in the new poll, with independent Ralph Nader at 1 percent. In the previous Post-ABC News poll, taken in the week after the Republican National Convention, Bush led Kerry 52 percent to 43 percent among likely voters.
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