Support for Republicans Falls, But Race for President Is Tight

[question everything]

Source: WSJ

McCain About Even With Democrats; New Lows for Bush
By JACKIE CALMES
May 1, 2008; Page A1

Only 27% of voters have positive views of the Republican Party, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the lowest level for either party in the survey's nearly two-decade history.Yet the party's probable presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, continues to run nearly even with Democratic rivals Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. His standing so far makes for a more competitive race for the White House than would be expected for Republicans, who face an electorate that overwhelmingly believes the country is headed in the wrong direction under President Bush.

(snip)

A majority of voters now say they want Democrats to re-capture the White House again, a finding that makes Sen. McCain's position remarkable: He's in a statistical dead-heat against either Democrat in the poll. Sen. Obama, the Democratic front-runner, leads Sen. McCain 46% to 43%, and Sen. Clinton has a 45% to 44% edge over the Republican. A big reason for the closeness: More voters said they could identify with Sen. McCain's "background" and "values" than with those of either of the Democratic contenders. Both point spreads are within the poll's 3.1-percentage-point margin of error. The survey of 1,006 registered voters was conducted April 25-28.

The poll also shows that the prolonged battling between Sens. Obama and Clinton could make it difficult for the ultimate nominee to unite the party. Both candidates have been bloodied, though Sen. Obama, who previously has enjoyed much higher personal ratings than Sen. Clinton, has sustained more damage. The Illinois senator has struggled over the past month with a series of controversies, including his association with an outspoken Chicago pastor and comments about small-town voters that have been portrayed as elitist. Representatives for the two Democrats declined to comment.

Voters, by 44% to 32%, hold positive feelings toward the Democratic Party. By a 15-point margin, 49% to 34%, voters say they want Democrats to keep control of Congress. Swing voters -- the one-third of the electorate that will decide the elections -- are even more hostile toward the Republican Party than voters overall, and identify by more than 2-to-1 with Democrats.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120959262155757509.html (subscription)

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See the complete poll - a PDF documen

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/MayWSJPollInfo.pdf

[BayouBengal07]

1. Only 27% of voters have positive views of the Republican Party.

But we'll re-elect them because of pastors or flag pins or some stupid bullshit.

[rpannier]

5. I heard they're the party of fiscal and personal responsibility

or something like that.

It's amazing how some people still buy into that b*llsh*t.

Like the republikkans are the Party of God.

Ares and Mars must be proud, because the only God they seem to follow is the God of War. And of the two, they're closer to Ares.
In Roman mythology Mars was a well respected God.
In Athenian-Hellenistic mythology Ares was a clown.

What worries me the most is, probably close to 60% of hard-core republikkans are armegeddon republikkans. And of those, probably half think Jesus is coming in the next few years. So, their attitude is "F*ck it! The Earth is only going to be around a few more years, so let's just focus on the rapture."

[populistdriven]

2. McCain is a blathering old fool

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=125742&mesg_id=125742

[spag68]

3. support for republicans

so that means there are 30 million or so people with their heads up their collective asses!!!!

[question everything]

4. Not necessarily. There are many who will never vote for a Democrat

just as there are many of us who will never vote for a Republican.

And then there are the ones who always believe in the principles of the party, in their case: of small government and less tax (until they need assistance, of course). And many of them consider the Bush administration a betrayal of these principles.

[rpannier]

6. That would be someone like...ohhhhh...Lincoln Chafee

A man of principle.

You made an excellent point.

Kudos and :toast:

Most things in politics are in the gray area

on edit: or in this case -- purple

[bjobotts]

7. Bullshit! 75% of this country will not vote McCain. Make believe it's close to steal it

[bjobotts]

8. He Must have missed the recent polls showing the flood of voters going democrat

and leaning democrat. This race is not even close.

[zanne]

12. That thought has entered my mind before, too.

They can only steal an election and pull the wool over our eyes if it appears to be at least a little close. I just don't buy it.

[Traction311]

38. So McLame will only get 25% of the vote?

Keep believing that. Wish it were true, but he will get at least 45%, legit.

[SlingBlade]

9. After 7 years of BUSHCO ???

What in the hell is wrong with this friggin country
are they all stupid or are WE just insane

[rasputin1952]

10. He has had very little media scrutiny, if he did receive any

scrutiny, he'd be siitting at a cheney like 15-18%He has nothing, and every time he opens his mouth, he just shows hinmself to be as ignorant a person cns be on naysubject that arises.

He's running on nothing more than, "It's my turn". He'll never survive the first meet-up w/the D nominee.
the man is an idiot, and nothing more than a shell.

[DeeDeeNY]

11. On the campaign trail, McLame talks about spending

His claim: It wasn't the Iraq war that caused Rethuglicans to lose Congress in 2006 but spending!!!!
The only reason voters aren't more disgusted with him is that more have not heard him speak.

[jonnyra]

13. Its the media folks...

The media is running cover for McCain just as they ran cover for Bush, while going wild with attacks and smears against Obama. Guess whos gonna be in the white house come January? Hint...it WONT be a democrat. The fix is in...this thing is over.

[chat_noir]

14. Republican Brand Sinks to Record Low

Source: Wall Street Journal

Only 27% of voters have positive views of Republicans, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the lowest level for either party in the survey's nearly two-decade history.

Yet the party's presumptive presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, continues to run nearly even with Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. His showing clouds the outcome of a race that was expected to be tough for Republicans, who face an electorate that overwhelmingly believes the country is headed in the wrong direction under President Bush.

"The nearly unprecedented negative mood of the country is presenting significant challenges this year for other Republican candidates," said Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who conducted the poll with Democrat Peter Hart.

President (sic) Bush reached new lows in his eighth and final year, with 27% approving of his overall job performance, and 21% his handling of the weakened economy. An unprecedented 73% of voters believe the country is on the wrong track; only 15% say it is going in the right direction.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120959262155757509.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. "Republican Brand"- I love it

Sounds like some kind of cheap condom.

[question everything]

36. It appears that "brand" is the new buzz word this elections season

I've heard it used with Democrats, too..

[Juche]

16. How do we lock it in

This is a prime opportunity to reframe the debate on national politics. Progressives have been behind virtually every improvement in contemporary life. Weekends, decent wages, minimum wages, child labor laws, womens right to vote, minority rights, social security, medicare, medicaid, universal healthcare, environmentalism, human rights being integral to foreign policy, human and civil rights at home, alternative energy, animal rights, opposing corporate greed.

Conservatives oppose(d) all of these things because they fear change, progress and equality. The GOP has to be branded as a party that opposes progress and equality that uses manipulation and bigotry to distract the voters long enough for the superrich to pilfer the country. The GOP is an amoral party that represents bigots and the superrich. That fact has to be cemented.

[indepat]

23. Amoral? Would not rancidly immoral, holistically immoral be more descriptive?

The rape of a sovereign nation and our national treasury surely give rise to an immoral tag. :shrug:

Edited: spelling

[Mojambo]

17. I just don't get how McCain is escaping the hate.

I mean, I know the corporate media is running huge interference for him, but still.

[Indenturedebtor]

18. He hasn't talked about issues much yet

Just wait until the first couple of debates... his numbers will tank!

[TheCowsCameHome]

19. He's getting a free ride - for now

Wait until he actually has to come up with some real answers.

He'll crack like a cheap teacup.

[saigon68]

27. Yes the Good Reverend Wright has the attention of the SHEEP

[AndyTiedye]

31. McCain Gets a Free Ride All The Way, Thanks to the Repiglickin' Media

Wait until he actually has to come up with some real answers.

When will that be? Where? Certainly not on any US media outlet. They are all hopelessly in LOVE with McCain :loveya: and will do ANYTHING to get him (s)elected.

All we will get to see is the pundits throwing him softballs and talking about what a wonderful "maverick" he is, and how all Real Americans® love "mavericks" so we should all love McCain as much as they do. :puke:

[pattmarty]

20. Jeez, I wonder fucking why??????????

[tazkcmo]

21. What are the Dem "brand" numbers?

I didn't see any mention of this but considering the low marks DEMOCRATS give many Dem congress members I can't imagine they are much higher. McCain's poll ratings probably are a combo of under/non-informed public, bigots and hard core 'Pubs.

[Juche]

25. On the issues, dems have a decent brand

THe public trusts the dems more than the GOP to deal competently with the economy, Iraq, energy, global warming, healthcare, education and virtually everything else. I think even terrorism is becoming an issue the public trust the dems more than the GOP, at least young people.

http://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.htm

[bronxiteforever]

22. Kick & R

:nopity:

[Nay]

24. The Pub "brand" is NOT sinking -- if it were, McCain would not be

running neck and neck with the Dems. The Bush brand is sinking, and as I predicted several years ago, the Pubs will successfully intimate that it was "all Bush's fault" and what we need is another Pub. Any other Pub would be fine. Looks like the trick is working, as I was sure it would. I'm not an optimist about this shit.

[struggle4progress]

33. Repeat after me: "R = W ... R = W ... R = W ..."

[Fly by night]

26. I need a "No R" bumpersticker to accompany my "No W" sticker.

You know, the W in a circle with a line through it.

I think whoever puts a bumpersticker out now with an R in the middle instead of a W will make a million bucks.

Oops. Forget I said that. Just move along now.

(Now to call my friendly local bumper-sticker maker.)

[question everything]

37. LOL, my spouse's boss, who is also the owner of the country

and Evangelical as they come, proudly has had a W on his car since 2004, but, apparently, has now secretly removed it.

[Stinky The Clown]

28. Maybe if we're lucky we can overcome Same and Samer and at least win bigger margins in Congress

But surely we'll find a way to fuck that up, too.

[KaptBunnyPants]

29. That would be a real problem if America was a democracy.

Luckily for the oligarchy, they don't need your approval when they control law enforcement, the media, and both major political parties.

[Bozita]

30. DetNews headline 4/18/08: "Michigan GOP finds itself in debt"

I believe this speaks to the brand's value.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080418/...

Friday, April 18, 2008
Michigan GOP finds itself in debt

$240,000 deficit, fundraising difficulties threaten party's ability to compete in fall

Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Michigan Republican activists are worried that their state party, heading into an intensive and expensive 2008 campaign, is in debt and failing to raise the money it needs to be competitive this fall.

The combination of a $240,000 debt and a harsh fundraising environment for Republicans is expected to be the topic of debate this weekend, when the state GOP's budget and central committees meet in Lansing.

"Basically, we're close to a quarter of a million dollars in debt, and this should be a time we're raising money and not spending it," said Bill Beddoes of Allen Park, the party's 14th Congressional District chairman. "It's very disturbing."

The financial picture could be key to a list of crucial races up and down the ticket -- from the presidential race in what is expected to be a battleground state, to GOP hopes of recapturing control of the Michigan House.

more...

[Carrieyazel]

32. But we've blown it in the Prez race by settling on Obama or Clinton

With a generic Dem vs. R in the Pres. race we're at +18 in the polls. That's 18 points ahead, basically where we could be right now in the early polls.

But both Dems against McCain it's a dead heat right now. That shows you that McCain may be the only thing that goes right for the Repubes this fall.

[jamesinca]

34. I think that has a lot to do with the infighting

if Hillary would just fall off the face of the earth and quite going on O'Reilly etc... this would be over and Obama could run against McCain. As it is McCain sits quietly and people assume he is a wise man etc....

I say Hillary needs to go away because she is the one that is trailing in the numbers. Number of states won (primary and caucus and they all count), number of delegates won and so on.

Let Obama talk and address McCain and it will be done I think.

[zanne]

35. When we finally have a nominee, those numbers will change.

McCain in uncontested. Any polling done right now regarding Reps vs.Dems is not at all accurate. They're counting McCain's rating percentage against Hillary's percentage and Obama's percentage. It would only be fair if they added Hillary's and Obama's percentages together against McCain's.

[truthisfreedom]

39. The white guy factor.

Go figure.

[TheWatcher]

40. Translation, no one wants to vote Republican

But they will steal it anyway.

[BreweryYardRat]

41. Propaganda lives.

1-3% margin, my hairy ass. Try 10-15%.