Tuesday, January 11, 2005
The Disaster President
Linked:
Every time there's a disaster that isn't caused by him, George W. Bush's approval ratings go up. However, when it comes to his own disasters his approval rating remains low. Why is that?
The truth is, George is good at making people believe that he's empathetic. To quote a previous office holder, he "feels your pain." When 3,000 Americans died on 9/11, he eventually made his way to the disaster site and said what everyone was hoping to hear. Ignoring the fact that he was unable to deliver on his promises, he endeared himself to a number of Americans by showing that he felt just like them. He was hurt, he was angry, and he was determined to seek justice. I think we all felt that way.
Now, fast-forward three years. When over 150,000 people died on December 26, he eventually made his way back from vacation and said what millions of Americans were hoping to hear. He was stunned, he was saddened, and he was determined to send whatever aide was necessary. Once again, I think we all felt that way.
So I ask you, faithful reader, based on these two incidents where Georgie-boy said what we were all thinking, "What is it that sets him apart from any of the rest of us?" If put in the same spot, wouldn't we have all said basically the same things in these two situations? Of course we would have. So would have Al Gore or John Kerry.
My point here is that he's benefiting from doing what anyone is capable of. So to truly understand his effectiveness we have to look at his approval ratings for things other than disasters of someone else's doing. Take Iraq, for instance. Approval rating: 42%. His approval rating on Social Security: 41%. And right track/wrong track numbers: 51% wrong track.
So when the pundits over at Faux News say that George W. Bush is someone that the average American identifies with, what they really mean is that he says what anyone else would be capable of after a tragedy and he fucks up everything else. Sounds like pretty much everyone I know.
- President Bush got high marks for his handling of the tsunami disaster, and his job approval rating went up in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday, but most of those surveyed had doubts about his call to overhaul Social Security.
Bush's job approval rating went up to 52 percent in the poll, which was conducted Friday through Sunday in phone calls to 1,008 adult Americans. That's an improvement of 3 percentage points from the last CNN poll, taken in mid-December.
Another 44 percent said they disapproved of his job performance, down 2 percentage points from the December 17-19 survey. The latest poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
[...]
He also got high marks for his handling of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, with 75 percent of respondents saying they approved of the way he handling it.
But only 42 percent of those surveyed said they approved of his handling of the war in Iraq, and 56 percent disapproved.
And 52 percent said they disapproved of his handling of Social Security -- an issue Bush has called on Congress to tackle in his second term.
Only 41 percent said they approved of Bush's desire to revamp Social Security, on which he has promised to spend the "political capital" he earned from his November election victory.
Every time there's a disaster that isn't caused by him, George W. Bush's approval ratings go up. However, when it comes to his own disasters his approval rating remains low. Why is that?
The truth is, George is good at making people believe that he's empathetic. To quote a previous office holder, he "feels your pain." When 3,000 Americans died on 9/11, he eventually made his way to the disaster site and said what everyone was hoping to hear. Ignoring the fact that he was unable to deliver on his promises, he endeared himself to a number of Americans by showing that he felt just like them. He was hurt, he was angry, and he was determined to seek justice. I think we all felt that way.
Now, fast-forward three years. When over 150,000 people died on December 26, he eventually made his way back from vacation and said what millions of Americans were hoping to hear. He was stunned, he was saddened, and he was determined to send whatever aide was necessary. Once again, I think we all felt that way.
So I ask you, faithful reader, based on these two incidents where Georgie-boy said what we were all thinking, "What is it that sets him apart from any of the rest of us?" If put in the same spot, wouldn't we have all said basically the same things in these two situations? Of course we would have. So would have Al Gore or John Kerry.
My point here is that he's benefiting from doing what anyone is capable of. So to truly understand his effectiveness we have to look at his approval ratings for things other than disasters of someone else's doing. Take Iraq, for instance. Approval rating: 42%. His approval rating on Social Security: 41%. And right track/wrong track numbers: 51% wrong track.
So when the pundits over at Faux News say that George W. Bush is someone that the average American identifies with, what they really mean is that he says what anyone else would be capable of after a tragedy and he fucks up everything else. Sounds like pretty much everyone I know.
