March 20, 2006
AVI Strikes, Pundits of Polls Cringe
Regular readers of this blog have come to know (and appreciate) The Assistant Village Idiot, known to most of us, well, at least to me as AVI. AVI is one of those of us that Dr. Sanity calls members of the Psychbloggers (and by nefarious others as PsychSphere or Psych-O-Sphere), but I digress.
AVI has a new post up regarding the recent polls showing President Bush down to numbers in the 30's and discusses the punditocracies belief that this shows that Bush is (wait for it)........... DOOMED!!!
The money grafs:
Presidential approval poll numbers are especially deceiving. When Bush had 85% approval, he didn’t have 85% approval in the sense that he would garner 85% of the vote if the election were that day. It wasn’t a vote. In the same way, his 35-40% approval now doesn’t mean that’s how many votes he would get today. Because there is no vote today. It is the job of the political opposition to try and create a bandwagon mentality, giving people the idea that there is general dissatisfaction with the way things are, so why don’t you, John and Mary Public, get on the winning side with all the smart people?It doesn’t mean we have to believe them. You would think this is obvious. But as commenters around the blogosphere know, references to Bush poll numbers frequently come up as evidence that “he’s wrong…everyone knows it…he’s not listening to the people…he’s tone deaf…only the blinkered are still supporting him…†Balderdash. Among those who disapprove of how the war is being handled, some think it should be prosecuted more forcefully. Some think it’s not going well but don’t necessarily think some other president would handle it better. Even among his supporters, much of the support is tentative. Neither the 61% who think it’s handled wrongly nor the 39% who think its handled well are solid numbers. Both disguise a variety of opinions by cramming them into an either-or option, when no such either-or option is necessary. We’re not voting for George Bush this week.
Go and read the whole thing.
Pehaps it is time to promote AVI to CVG - Chief Village Genius
Posted by GM Roper at March 20, 2006 07:42 AM | TrackBackAmong those who disapprove of how the war is being handled, some think it should be prosecuted more forcefully
I'll wager with anyone that this is a very small percentage of those responding... less than 10% overall.
Some think it’s not going well but don’t necessarily think some other president would handle it better
That doesn't absolve Bush from bearing the responsibility of his actions. But I do agree that John Kerry would have mucked things up just as bad as Bush.
We’re not voting for George Bush this week.
No, we're stuck with him for another three years almost. What are the odds we'll be invading Iran sometime after the mid-term elections? Say spring of 2007?
Posted by E. Nonee Moose at March 20, 2006 10:59 AM
Thanks for the link. It's especially kind since I think I chased your Hungarian away.
Posted by Assistant Village Idiot at March 23, 2006 03:46 PM
