Bush slipping in most recent polls

[Joe]

link

It looks like the increased space spending may end up being a political loser, surprisingly. The amnesty proposal too, but that's a bit obvious.

[Durandal]

Supporting illegal immigrants was a no-win for him. I'm honestly surprised that he actually did it. He slapped the millions of unemployed Americans in the face, broke with core ideals among his supporters and failed to gain any credibility with the left.

And I think the capture of Saddam may have come a little bit too soon for him. A lot can happen in the 11 months between Saddam's capture and the election. People are quick to forget the past's highs in favor of the present's lows. If the unemployment rate doesn't improve, he'll lose some support from the right.

[Joe]

Supporting illegal immigrants was a no-win for him. I'm honestly surprised that he actually did it. He slapped the millions of unemployed Americans in the face, broke with core ideals among his supporters and failed to gain any credibility with the left.

On the contrary, the illegal immigrant thing would definitely win him Hispanic votes, and the Dems can't afford to really come out against it aggressively, or they'll be the ones losing Hispanic votes. Hispanic votes could very well be the difference in a few states - like Florida, for example. True, it may lose him favor among the Republican faithful, but, as Karl Rove is said to have cynically noted, who else are they going to go? And as for the left, well, that is just about as futile a cause for Bush as the right was for Clinton in 1996.

And I think the capture of Saddam may have come a little bit too soon for him. A lot can happen in the 11 months between Saddam's capture and the election. People are quick to forget the past's highs in favor of the present's lows. If the unemployment rate doesn't improve, he'll lose some support from the right.

Actually, I don't think the state of the economy would be enough to drive Bush's supporters on the right, since they most likely reason that the Dems would not be substantially better. Where Bush is really vulnerable from the right is on the issue of excessive spending, what I and I'm sure many other conservatives consider the biggest problem with the Bush administration.

What really surprises me is how poorly the proposed increases in space program spending have been received. Anger about the economy and Iraq I can understand (while I don't agree), but not space. I mean, we're not talking about a terribly exorbitant sum of money here; what Bush is proposing we spend over the next five years wouldn't even equal half of the DoT's yearly pork expenditures. Maybe there's a lot of misinformation here; I doubt many people are aware of what the actual size of the proposed budget is, because I certainly would have never guessed that it would be as small as it is. Or maybe it's a generational thing; older Americans seem to be less in favor of it than young Americans like myself.

[MKSheppard]

True, it may lose him favor among the Republican faithful, but, as Karl Rove is said to have cynically noted, who else are they going to go?

Or we could just not vote or just vote for Pat Buchanan

[TrailerParkJawa]

All of his actions are to sway the middle ground. True left and right always vote the same.

[Joe]

True, it may lose him favor among the Republican faithful, but, as Karl Rove is said to have cynically noted, who else are they going to go?

Or we could just not vote or just vote for Pat Buchanan

The possibility of Buchanan taking votes from Bush is minimal to nonexistent this election cycle; with the threat of Islamic terrorism, his 19th century foreign policy is going to be even less successful with voters than it has been previously.

As for voters staying home, well, the potential consequences of staying home are a bit more serious than they were in, say 1992, when stay-home Republicans arguably lost Bush Sr. the election. This time around, staying home could put a Democrat in office, who will likely be perceived by virtually the entire Republican voting bloc as weak on national security. If foreign policy weren't such a hot issue this time around I would be willing to bet stay-home Republicans would lose Bush the election.

[jegs2]

Supporting illegal immigrants was a no-win for him. I'm honestly surprised that he actually did it.

I disagreed with that move. Over the past couple of decades I've finally come to the conclusion that it matters little who is elected as President, for I and my kind will be sent to (insert generic hotspot here) regardless of who is calling the shots from the Whitehouse.

That being said, I still think I may resign if Hillary is elected president before I get a chance to retire...

[Vympel]

It's up in the air as to whether the Hispanic thing will 'definitely' win him votes, IIRC.

[Joe]

It's up in the air as to whether the Hispanic thing will 'definitely' win him votes, IIRC.

Frankly, I don't see how it can't win him votes. But it is indeed possible that he'll have a net loss in overall votes despite Hispanic gains.