Bush Approval rating rebounds

[STING2]

Poll shows rating at 56%, off recent low of 44%


WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 ? President Bush?s approval rating has rebounded from a recent near record low for his presidency following a public relations offensive, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday showed. The poll found that 56 percent of Americans now approve of the way Bush is handling his job.



BUSH?S JOB PERFORMANCE rating had hovered around 44 percent in recent weeks as Democratic presidential candidates stepped up criticism of his handling of the economy and the Iraq war amid mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq.

Bush launched a new public relations offensive last week to defend his policies on Iraq and the economy. The White House also announced a reorganization of the administration?s Iraqi reconstruction management.
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Just over half of those polled now think he deserves to be re-elected while 38 percent of registered voters say they will definitely vote for him in 2004. An equal number say they definitely will vote against him.


The new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Oct. 10-13, found that 44 percent of Americans think the U.S. economy is in good shape, up from 35 percent in March. More than half of the respondents said they were optimistic that the economy would be performing well a year from now.

According to the poll, retired Gen. Wesley Clark continues to lead the list of Bush?s nine Democratic challengers, garnering an 18 percent rating among registered Democrats and Democratic leaning voters.

The telephone poll of 1,004 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

? 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

 

[Rono]

Public relations ? advertisment ? Is that the reality in American politics ?

 

[BVS]

Public relations ? advertisment ? Is that the reality in American politics ?

Absolutely...it's sad but true. Just look at Arnold. His policies were rarely even discussed, but several blockbuster movies and you're a household name.

 

[STING2]

Anyone has the right to step up, independent of the media, and express how they feel, what they have done, and why they are the best candidate for the public office.

I don't know any liberal politicians who remain silent in the face of criticism, warrented and unwarrented.

 

[BVS]

Anyone has the right to step up, independent of the media, and express how they feel, what they have done, and why they are the best candidate for the public office.

I don't know any liberal politicians who remain silent in the face of criticism, warrented and unwarrented.

No one said they didn't.

 

[DrTeeth]

Scary stuff

 

[nbcrusader]

Please, the label "public relations offensive" is the media spin on a series of speeches given by adminstration officials. Its not like Bush hired Chiat/Day to create ads promoting the "New Iraq".

 

[Scarletwine]

That article is just honing on one rating. Here'a the abc/washington post poll

Bush vs. Generic Democratic Candidate for '04
% Vote for Bush % Vote for Democrat
4/30/03 53 40
8/11/03 48 40
9/13/03 49 44
10/13/03 46 47

Bush's lead in this test is down from +13 in April, +8 in August and +5 last month.

An ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll finds that nearly six in 10 Americans ? a new high ? call U.S. casualties in Iraq "unacceptable," more than double its level when Baghdad fell last April. Bush's approval rating for handling terrorism more broadly, while still high, now matches his career low. And most continue to disapprove of his handling of the economy, a critical election-year benchmark.

More than eight in 10 continue to see the alleged White House leak of a CIA operative's identity as a "serious matter," and the number who think the administration is fully cooperating in the investigation has declined to 39 percent. About two-thirds still favor appointment of an outside special counsel to look into the matter.

Fifty-three percent approve of the way he's handling his job as president; on one hand that's a career low, but on the other it's far above the lows hit by previous presidents (Bill Clinton, 43 percent; Bush's father, 33 percent; Ronald Reagan, 42 percent; Jimmy Carter, 28 percent.) Indeed, it's only slightly below Reagan and Clinton's career averages, 57 percent.

On the economy, 46 percent approve of Bush's performance, 51 percent disapprove.

Bush's best marks are for his work on the campaign against terrorism ? 67 percent approve, a broad majority by any gauge. But this, too, is down from 79 percent last spring, and matches his lowest since Sept. 11, 2001.

Fifty-four percent say the Iraq war was worth fighting, down from 70 percent in April. And 50 percent approve of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq ? virtually unchanged in the last month, after falling from 67 percent in June and 75 percent in April.

A majority, 54 percent, thinks the administration doesn't have a clear plan on what to do in Iraq. And divisions on the issue cut deep.

Methodology

This ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 9-13 among a random national sample of 1,000 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation were done by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.

That article is exactly how partisan media can put a particular spin on data by only covering a small portion.

 

[sharky]

I have to give the guy credit. He was able to increase his rating despite the fact that Rush is in rehab now.

I think things will be going downhill for Bush as the Democratic field thins down, the election gets closer and the situation in Iraq get worse.

 

[STING2]

Here is some bad news for the Democrats.

ABC news tonight reported that economic growth in the USA was only 1.9% in the first quarter this year. The Third quarter results are in now and economic growth was a whopping 4.5% in the third quarter! The fourth quarter has just started, but is expected to have a much higher rate of growth than the third quarter.

Bottom line, if this rate of growth continues into the new year, Businesses will have to start to hire new workers. This in turn means a drop in the unemployment rate. If these signficant changes persist into the election, the democrats will be unable to win.

 

[diamond]

THE MEDIA WITH THE BIG IDEA?

Uh oh...
You've been had-


Working to Spin Distrust of Media Into Votes

By JIM RUTENBERG

When The Los Angeles Times published articles just days before the California recall election detailing reports of inappropriate sexual behavior by Arnold Schwarzenegger, its editor steadfastly defended the timing.

"It is a paper's job to disclose anything it knows that bears on a candidate's fitness for office ? before Election Day, not after," the editor, John Carroll, said.

But Republicans on talk radio, the Internet and some cable television talk shows accused the newspaper of shilling for Gov. Gray Davis. And many voters agreed. "This is a Davis ploy ? he's the king of dirty tricks," one Schwarzenegger voter said, adding, "If anything, it made me want to vote for him more."

Mr. Schwarzenegger's election put more than incumbent politicians on notice. It also gave pause to the establishment news media, with implications that go beyond a single governor's race, political and media analysts said. Other candidates running as outsiders ? like Howard Dean and Gen. Wesley K. Clark ? are proving they can overcome potentially damaging coverage by positioning the news media as part of the establishment they are fighting.




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They are being helped by two increasingly important factors. More outlets are available on radio, cable and the Web where partisan commentators can make their cases, unfiltered, to ever-larger audiences. And polls show that the public's perception of the mainstream news media is growing more negative.

"The media couldn't stop us because the people are becoming savvy to the media," said Jesse Ventura, the former wrestler who was governor of Minnesota from 1999 to this year, referring to Mr. Schwarzenegger and himself. "They're realizing the media's dishonest."

Mimicking the Schwarzenegger campaign's line that the Los Angeles Times articles about groping were a result of "puke politics" by the Davis campaign, Rush Limbaugh, the radio talk show host, told listeners on Election Day that the newspaper's journalists were "dastardly political assassins who use ink instead of bullets to hit candidates under the cover of objective journalism."

Mr. Carroll said such commentary stoked the anger of the paper's readers, more than 1,000 of whom have canceled subscriptions in response to the articles, according to the newspaper. "False stories about the newspaper were circulated locally, and instead of having the obscure death they deserved, they were picked up by the talk shows," Mr. Carroll said, citing a rumor that an article had been held for two weeks, for effect.

"These are pure gold for the talk shows," he said, "because the talk shows are directed at people who are alienated and resentful and who want a target for their feelings."


"We are now getting a faceful of rotten journalism ? journalistic pornography, actually ? in which ratings are everything and truth is nothing."
-L.A. Times Editor John Carroll

Mr. Carroll said something else was feeding the conspiracy theories. "This was a genuine, grass-roots rebellion, which is to say an emotional upheaval of the electorate," he said. "And the passions that were expressed in the recall movement were also directed against the paper."

Similar forces seem to be at play in Dr. Dean's campaign, and, perhaps to a lesser extent, in General Clark's.

Despite articles about General Clark's recent flip-flopping on his support of the war in Iraq, he emerged as a leader in the Democratic field ? though heavy coverage of his candidacy certainly helped.

Dr. Dean seemed to waver under intense questioning by Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press" in June about stances on a balanced budget amendment and a prescription-drug plan supported by the president.

Despite that performance and bad reviews from commentators, Dr. Dean's supporters rallied, more than tripling donations on his Web site for an average Sunday that day, campaign officials said. Joe Trippi, Dr. Dean's campaign manager, said the reaction was so strong because "there's a real feeling of ownership from the people who support us." He added: "It's not just Howard Dean that's getting attacked. It's them. They want to change the country, and you're trying to stop them from changing it when you attack them."

Barbara Levin, a spokeswoman for NBC News, said Mr. Russert was only doing his job. "When Russert asks tough questions of Democrats, they don't like it. When he asks the tough questions of Republicans, they don't like it either."

Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which regularly polls people on attitudes toward the news media, said that in 1985, 17 percent of people said the news media got in the way of leaders trying to do their jobs, and nearly two-thirds said that critical coverage kept leaders from misbehaving. By last year, a third said critical news coverage got in the way. That descent, he said, was hastened by the scandal over President Bill Clinton's affair with an intern.


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But many mainstream journalists blanch at defending their motives, preferring to let reporting speak for itself. Mr. Carroll wrote an opinion article for Sunday's paper to address the charges, an acknowledgment that in this climate, the standard "We stand by our story" will not do.

In the piece, Mr. Carroll details the lengthy reporting process, describes how the women were found through Hollywood sources, not campaign operatives, and rebukes those he said spread falsehoods about the paper's motives. "We are now getting a faceful of rotten journalism ? journalistic pornography, actually ? in which ratings are everything and truth is nothing," he wrote.

He said in an interview that he was unlikely to appear on the cable news talk show circuit to defend his paper.

"I was raised in the South with a high premium put on manners," he said. "I'm not about to go on a show in which people are shouted down."

 

[therulz]

?

Arnold Schwarzenegger did go on public TV and apologize for how he treated women and other bad behaviors on his hollywood movie sets years ago...but we all know it was a ploy to throw recall election votes to Gray Davis....they should have dubbed the election "total recall" would have been more fitting.

 

[AcrobatMan]

Bush