Democrats can win in 2004!
Sep. 20th, 2003 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yesthattom[ forwarded from a friend Thu Sep 11, 2003 ]
A recent poll conducted for Senate Republican Conference Chair Rick Santorum
surveyed 1,000 registered voters. It was released yesterday.
Of those polled, 38% said the country is on the right track, 49% said wrong
track.
The President's "job approval" was down to 51% (with 44% disapproving) . . .
and note that this number is always higher than the "re-elect" number -- the
number who say they'd vote to keep him on. THAT number, most recently, has
been running in the low 40s.
People were asked "the Party You Have More Confidence In To Handle" various
issues.
On education, 51% choose the Dems, 36% the Reps.
On Social Security, 49% chose us, 34% chose them.
On health care/prescription drugs, 51% chose us, 32% chose them.
On the economy, 46% chose us, 39% chose them.
On jobs, 50% chose us, 37% chose them.
On energy, 48% chose us, 35% chose them.
On "retirement and investments" we were tied at 41% each. On taxes, there
was a slight preference for them, 44%-42%. On only one question -- albeit a
crucial one -- did we fair badly, "National Defense/Foreign Affairs/Terrorism,"
where they were favored 54% to 34%. But consider:
With General Wesley Clark likely to be somewhere on our team (and with help
from many other quarters as well), we will have many, many months to change
people's perceptions.
For one thing, does anyone recall the role that that old lefty liberal
Democrat, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, played in World War II? He was involved
somehow, wasn't he? And was Democrat Harry Truman soft on the Japanese? How about
the quintessential Harvard liberal John F. Kennedy -- did he surrender to the
Soviets or appease Castro or shy away from Vietnam (as, with hindsight, many
of us wish he had)? This myth that Democrats aren't tough or patriotic or
can't be trusted to defend the nation is just ridiculous.
And what about Cheney's quote that you fight the war with the LAST
administration's military, not your own. He made this very clear -- and of course he
was right. (He did it in thanking Reagan for the success of the first Gulf
War.)
Well, guess whose military it was that performed with such dazzling
effectiveness in Afghanistan and Iraq? It was the Clinton/Gore military.
My own view is that Bush's dramatic landing on that aircraft carrier (slow
the boat! turn it around so the San Diego skyline isn't showing!), and his own
military service (leapfrogging 183 others to get into the Guard, and then going
AWOL) will not be as impressive as, say, General Clark's (first in his class
at West Point, war hero, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe).
As always, one of our big challenges is having the resources to get these
messages out, when the time comes, so we're not just talking to ourselves and the
folks who read Time or watch the national news. And that's why, if I weren't
so shy, I would encourage you to join us in New York September 25 -- or to
help build our war chest even if you can't come.
Save January 20, 2005. With your help, we are going to win.
A recent poll conducted for Senate Republican Conference Chair Rick Santorum
surveyed 1,000 registered voters. It was released yesterday.
Of those polled, 38% said the country is on the right track, 49% said wrong
track.
The President's "job approval" was down to 51% (with 44% disapproving) . . .
and note that this number is always higher than the "re-elect" number -- the
number who say they'd vote to keep him on. THAT number, most recently, has
been running in the low 40s.
People were asked "the Party You Have More Confidence In To Handle" various
issues.
On education, 51% choose the Dems, 36% the Reps.
On Social Security, 49% chose us, 34% chose them.
On health care/prescription drugs, 51% chose us, 32% chose them.
On the economy, 46% chose us, 39% chose them.
On jobs, 50% chose us, 37% chose them.
On energy, 48% chose us, 35% chose them.
On "retirement and investments" we were tied at 41% each. On taxes, there
was a slight preference for them, 44%-42%. On only one question -- albeit a
crucial one -- did we fair badly, "National Defense/Foreign Affairs/Terrorism,"
where they were favored 54% to 34%. But consider:
With General Wesley Clark likely to be somewhere on our team (and with help
from many other quarters as well), we will have many, many months to change
people's perceptions.
For one thing, does anyone recall the role that that old lefty liberal
Democrat, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, played in World War II? He was involved
somehow, wasn't he? And was Democrat Harry Truman soft on the Japanese? How about
the quintessential Harvard liberal John F. Kennedy -- did he surrender to the
Soviets or appease Castro or shy away from Vietnam (as, with hindsight, many
of us wish he had)? This myth that Democrats aren't tough or patriotic or
can't be trusted to defend the nation is just ridiculous.
And what about Cheney's quote that you fight the war with the LAST
administration's military, not your own. He made this very clear -- and of course he
was right. (He did it in thanking Reagan for the success of the first Gulf
War.)
Well, guess whose military it was that performed with such dazzling
effectiveness in Afghanistan and Iraq? It was the Clinton/Gore military.
My own view is that Bush's dramatic landing on that aircraft carrier (slow
the boat! turn it around so the San Diego skyline isn't showing!), and his own
military service (leapfrogging 183 others to get into the Guard, and then going
AWOL) will not be as impressive as, say, General Clark's (first in his class
at West Point, war hero, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe).
As always, one of our big challenges is having the resources to get these
messages out, when the time comes, so we're not just talking to ourselves and the
folks who read Time or watch the national news. And that's why, if I weren't
so shy, I would encourage you to join us in New York September 25 -- or to
help build our war chest even if you can't come.
Save January 20, 2005. With your help, we are going to win.
