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Title: FOX News Conclusion: With Economy Tanking and Bush Not Able To Speak Like Clinton - Impeachment Looms
Source:
Fox News
URL Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,174627,00.html
Published: Nov 4, 2005
Author: Patrick Basham
Post Date: 2005-11-09 05:45:34 by Uncle Bill
Keywords: Conclusion:, Impeachment, Economy
Views: 118
Comments: 7
Fox News With the White House shrouded in scandal, the biggest obstacle to George W. Bush’s political comeback is that he’s no Bill Clinton. The heaviest millstone around the president’s political neck isn’t the case against Scooter Libby or the continuing investigation into Karl Rove. Rather, it’s the growing public perception that, unlike President Clinton in the 1990s, Bush is presiding over an unsuccessful, even incompetent, administration. Scandal’s ability to upset the political apple cart is such that some observers argue scandals are now the primary means through which Americans engage in political conflict. What will be the current scandal’s impact on the Bush presidency? An especially bad omen is the effects of a serious political scandal -- which public opinion considers this one to be -- dissipate very slowly. When governments or government officials are perceived to have violated the public trust, their transgressions aren’t quickly forgotten. In fact, some scandals resonate throughout our political culture for several years. For example, pollsters found that the Watergate scandal’s effect upon public opinion was still felt a decade after Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency. History also teaches us that a scandal’s presence applies considerable downward pressure on a president’s approval ratings. The mere perception of inappropriate behavior, not necessarily actual wrongdoing, is frequently a catalyst for declining approval ratings. It’s rare for the public to separate a president’s professional performance from his personal integrity. A president’s personal integrity influences how he is evaluated and a scandal brings his integrity into question. The average scandal depresses a president’s approval ratings by nine to ten percentage points, and with only a 39 percent approval rating according to a new WashingtonPost/ABC News survey, President Bush clearly can’t afford to take an average hit. The most notable exception to the scandal effect is Bill Clinton. His presidency remained popular despite the eruption of the Monica Lewinsky scandal in February 1998. Gallup poll surveys show support for his performance relatively high, although the public was far more critical in its evaluation of his personal qualities. By the 2000 election, Clinton’s approval rating stood at 57 percent while his personal approval was only 40 percent. A comparison of the public’s contrasting reactions to the Watergate and Lewinsky scandals provides further bad news for President Bush. Why did so many more Americans support President Nixon’s impeachment in 1974 than President Clinton’s impeachment in 1998? The extent to which an administration suffers politically from a scandal is determined largely by prevailing economic conditions. A strong economy permitted a majority of Americans the luxury of discriminating between Clinton’s job performance and his personal integrity. In 1998, Clinton benefited from the public’s perception that the economy was in good shape, in sharp contrast to the public’s perception of the economy in 1974. Most Americans wanted Richard Nixon out of office for economic reasons, but most Americans wanted Bill Clinton to remain in office for economic reasons. Overcoming the political damage inflicted by a serious scandal requires that the American people perceive both strong presidential leadership and managerial competence in the Oval Office. The good news, therefore, for President Bush may be found in the recent lesson that peace and prosperity successfully blunted the Lewinsky scandal’s impact upon the Clinton presidency. Desperate to regain the political offensive, the White House might find that an appropriate Supreme Court nomination and a serious attack on a bloated federal government both prove to be powerful weapons in Bush’s political arsenal. Back in 2000, George W. Bush’s presidential campaign drew an explicit contrast between its candidate’s high ethical standards and Bill Clinton’s scandalous personal behavior. Five years later, there is tremendous irony in the fact that President Bush, if his second term agenda is to survive this scandal, needs to give America a reason to rate his own presidency along Clintonesque lines. I did not have lies with that omen, Mr. and Mrs. American
In Scandalous Times, Bush
Could Learn from Clinton
Friday, November 04, 2005
By Patrick Basham
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#1. To: Uncle Bill (#0)
impeachment means that Dick Cheney would be president.
Mornin' Red... Ya know, I been thinking about this, and I've come to the conclusion that they will take Cheny out, and leave bush in there, but nullify anything he might try to accomplish. Just like the Rs didn't really want to take out clinton...leaving a wounded dog in office makes it so much easier to put one of theirs in office in '08...as opposed to having to fight an incumbant.
The furture looks ominous for Bush and the War Party. Two months ago it would have been unthinkable that Fox News could publish such an anti-Bush article. If the Dems win Congress in 06, Cheney may resign.
Life is a tragedy to those who feel, and a comedy to those who think.
They would take Cheney down first. Bush is just a frontman puppet. Red, thanks for some of the great articles lately. The one on China is breathtaking. It sounds like the US 100 years ago or so. Mark
the people who rule - rule with an iron fist. They can give us this long drawn out drama on tv involving emotional ejection of some figure-heads from leadership. But the substance behind their policies and how evil they are will not be discussed in this drama. The substance of their policies will also not change. They will just get different figureheads. Will they stop the war? Sixty percent of americans want them to stop the war. But they won't. Instead they'll create the illusion that 'we the people' are somehow in charge by giving us a scapegoat, maybe even a scapegoat named bush. we'll be distracted and nothing good will come of it. They are very good at propaganda. Remember - the Monica Lewinsky scandal was their means of both distracting us from the real evils and their defense of clinton. It worked, millions of americans thought the only reason anyone opposed clinton was because of clinton's sex scandals. Bush is extremely unpopular. They can throw him down in a long-drawn out drama which will only serve to distract us and by so doing they protect the substance of their policies.
Holy Shit, this was on FUX? But that doesn't mean he couldn't find someone to blow him. Shoot, there's gotta be some College Republican hottie with the appropriate skillset and positive, flexible attitude.
"I want the American people to know that our dreams are gone, our work was in vain. There will be no future for our children and our grandchildren in the new Iraq. The future is for the clerics. This is not the democracy we dreamed of. "--Dr. Raja Kuzai
Oh fucking please.... Bush? Impeachment??? BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHHA. Never going to happen. NEVER. Poppy isn't going to see his family's good name sullied, and if the spectre of Nazi Support, and the gay prostitute ring at the white house didn't show that the family is made of teflon, what in the world are people thinking that Georgie Porgie is impeachable??? Come on... Let's be realistic... George isn't going anywhere. In fact... Anyone know where Karl Rove is right now? The idea of anyone being held accountable for anything in government is fucking laughable.
#2. To: Red Jones (#1)
impeachment means that Dick Cheney would be president.
#3. To: Red Jones (#1)
impeachment means that Dick Cheney would be president.
#4. To: Red Jones (#1)
#5. To: Uncle Bill (#0)
#6. To: Uncle Bill (#0)
the biggest obstacle to George W. Bush’s political comeback is that he’s no Bill Clinton.
#7. To: Uncle Bill (#0)
 | So many morons, so few bullets. |
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