9 Responses to “Most Disagree With Bush’s Libby Decision”

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1. Big Mo Says:

   July 3rd, 2007 at 2:48 pm
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   Wait a minute. Only those familiar with the case were asked, but then this is supposed to represent all Americans?

   Worthless.

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2. ~J~ Says:

   July 3rd, 2007 at 3:09 pm
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   I’m going to repeat something I said on another blog today. If anyone thinks Bush did this for political reasons they haven’t been watching his presidency very well. If he wanted to be popular he’d have taken the troops out of Iraq long ago.

   He did this because he felt it was the right thing and frankly, I don’t care what the polls show. He’s not running for president and anyone who tries to tie him to another presidential candidate isn’t very smart since the likely nominee will not have served in his administration and was not his Vice President.

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3. Sue Says:

   July 3rd, 2007 at 3:49 pm
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   Just another day in paradise for the pollsters. If it makes the President or his decisions look bad then it is worth publishing.

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4. Kate Says:

   July 3rd, 2007 at 9:19 pm
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   This poll is bogus. Only 32% of Repubs agree with it? I seriously doubt it, if they disagree its probably because they think he should have gotten a full pardon.

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5. Sue Says:

   July 3rd, 2007 at 9:26 pm
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   Kate:

   Exactly!

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6. Guss Says:

   July 4th, 2007 at 7:30 am
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   A new poll shows that 60 percent of all Americans disagree with what the president did. You can call it bogus if you want.

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7. Ayschlay Says:

   July 4th, 2007 at 8:06 am
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   The survey makes no claim whatsoever that it represents all Americans. It may be “bogus” for some other reason, but not for that.

   Because the poll was limited to those who followed the story doesn’t make it bogus either. It just means what we can say about the results is more limited.

   Sue, on what basis do you make the claim that that this particular polling outfit (SurveyUSA) and website (Political Wire) would publish only results that make the President look bad? The pollsters explain their poll this way: “Reaction to the President’s decision may evolve over time. This poll attempts to measure a first reaction to the news, before many individuals would have had a chance to be influenced by political spin applied to the story.”

   Pre and post spin opinions–I think that’s a valid and interesting thing to look at (especially for those who claim that the media doesn’t affect them).

   The poll shows that there is, no surprise, a partisan reaction to the commutation. More than twice as many Republicans as Democrats approved of Bush’s action. Kate has the interesting question–why did only 32% of Republicans approve? Was it because they think that Bush shouldn’t have intervened, or because he should have granted a full pardon. I’d put my money on Kate’s guess.

   Finally, if you follow the link to the full poll results, you’ll find some other interesting findings.

   Older people (55+) were far more likely than the young (>34) to follow the Libby story–and I think in general older folks follow more political news than younger ones. Race and ideology didn’t affect whether one tracked this story or not.

   But this is strange: age didn’t matter much when it came to agreeing with the President’s commutation, but race and ideology did. Blacks and liberals were much more likely to disagree with the President.

   All in all, this poll just seems to confirm what we already know–a majority of liberals, minorities, and Democrats will always suspect Bush’s decisions; but now only a minority of conservatives, whites, and Republicans will always support the President’s decisions.

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8. Sue Says:

   July 4th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
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   Ayschlay:

   I believe I have stated before that I am no fan of polls. I wasn’t when they showed this President’s numbers in the 70’s and 80’s and I am not now.

   There has been very little in the way of positive information printed on this President and his administration throughout his tenure. Perhaps there are those who say that is justified and they are certainly entitled to their opinion.

   I did not say the poll was bogus, I simply believe Kate was correct in believing that a majority would have prefered a full pardon. I for one did not.

   As for the demographics of the poll I did check them out after Guss published this piece. I suppose if you believe in the process of polling this would provide less than good news for the President. It was clear after reading the account of the White House Press Conference yesterday that the news reports would be negative today for the most part but again, no surprise to those of us who have followed this closely since the beginning of the Presidents first term.

   Well, just another point for friendly disagreement..I simply do not put much stock in polls and you seem to find them more reliable. Glad to have the discussion though, as I always learn something or am pushed to think a bit after reading your comments or posts.

   Happy Independence day!

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9. ~J~ Says:

   July 4th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
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   I will state again: If people think Bush did this to be popular they are wrong. It doesn’t matter what the polls say. He doesn’t govern by polls. He debated this matter for weeks before he did what he did according to the NYT or WaPo, I don’t remember where the story is.

   This does not make him more popular with the right, at least not long term. Go to the right sites and confirm it for yourself. They wanted nothing short of a full pardon.

   It certainly doesn’t make him popular with the left as Jessie Jackson Jr. is calling for impeachment hearings and John Conyers has already scheduled a hearing for next week to look into presidential abuse of powers for pardons and commutations.

   He commuted the sentence for the reasons he stated. Get over it. It’s two day old news.