Poll: American Satisfaction at New Low
WASHINGTON - It’s gloomy out there. Men and women, whites and minorities - all are feeling a war-weary pessimism about the country seldom shared by so many people.
Only 25 percent of those surveyed say things in the U.S. are going in the right direction, according to an AP-Ipsos poll this month. That is about the lowest level of satisfaction detected since the survey started in December 2003.
Rarely have longer-running polls found such a rate since the even gloomier days of 1992 ahead of the first President Bush’s re-election loss to Democrat Bill Clinton.
The current glumness is widely blamed on public discontent with the war in Iraq and with President Bush. It is striking for how widespread the mood is among different groups of people.
Women and minorities are less content than men and whites, which has been true for years. But all four groups are at or near record lows for the AP-Ipsos poll, and at unusually low levels for older surveys, as well.
Three in 10 men and two in 10 women said this month they think the country is on the right track, down from nearly half of each who felt that way at the end of 2003.
By race, 28 percent of whites and 18 percent of minorities said the same - just over half their rates of optimism from late 2003.
Asked in April why they felt things were veering in the wrong direction, one-third overall volunteered the war and one-fourth blamed poor leadership.
Nine percent faulted the economy, 8 percent a loss of moral values and 5 percent gasoline prices.
“We need to get out of war, get our economy back up, quit spending money outside of America and bring it here,” said Democrat Lisa Pollard, 45, an insurance company analyst in Arlington, Texas.
© 2007 The Associated Press.
Polls don’t matter to Bush because he was basically elected by the military industrial complex and oil corporations. He is their puppet government. Polls do matter to all of the Republicans that want to be re-elected in 2008. We are probably going to see an increasing number of these Republicans lining up to criticize stay the course in Iraq and challenge Bush.
All of which indicates opportunity for the Democrats. However, they may yet seize defeat in the jaws of victory. Their efforts to challenge Bush on Iraq have so far seemed ineffective and weak. If Hillary Clinton is nominated as their presidential candidate for 2008, everyone needs to consider our country following Bush with Bush, and the possibility of following Clinton with Clinton. That would be a loud and clear message about the two party bankruptcy on new faces, new energy, new ideas, and new directions.
We are dissatisfied, but in 2008 we may be facing once again the choice between the lesser of two weevils.
It does not matter if either Reps or Dems are elected to power in 2008; things will remain the same. The 2-party system experiment in this country is a failure (except for a small minority). The only way to turn around the malaise hanging over this country is to kick BOTH Dems and Reps out and bring an Independent to popular power.
No wonder the establishment is so afraid of Mike Gravel and Ron Paul. Those two “margianl” candidates are the only ones talking sense and therefore are a threat to the horrible status quo.
With discontent among the masses so strong the biggest danger to the powers that be is that one or both of their campaigns will really catch fire.
Here’s hoping (against hope).
Its depressing to get what you asked for. I can get no satisfaction. Ralph Nader and the Green party have been warning of this 2-party’s effect for years, we didn’t listen and now the proof is clear.
Greed(Show me the money), war monogering(Cheney), corporate owned(Trump), Pottersivlle, and a polluted US of A. Yet 28% still support the GOP.
Representaive Government goes both ways, we vote for fools because we are.
And American Idol gets more votes than US elections.
What if no one showed up to vote, could the politcians still claim that America is the great experiment because the governed give their assent to the government. NO! they would continue to be the dictators they really are.
The sheeple are clearly not happy with the Bush administration for a variety of reasons. That hardly means they will do anything about it. American Idol probably does get more votes than the U.S. elections, so think of people fascinated by a group of performers who couldn’t get a job at an airport Ramada Inn lounge as our electorate. Time to give some thought to expatriation.