Public evenly split on staying the course, what does this mean for Kerry?

[G_j]

(does anyone have a link to the actual poll?)

Daniel Shorr:

"According to a NYT/CBS poll, the public is just about evenly split on whether American troops should stay the course in Iraq."

**What does this mean for Kerry if things get worse and as the torture revelations deepen?

Daniel Schorr Analysis: Approval Ratings
NPR's Daniel Schorr, senior news analyst, examines the latest polls about American involvement in Iraq, both from the U.S. and the Iraqi perspectives.
http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=10&prgDate=current
---
NYT article on the poll:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/29/politics/29POLL.html?pagewanted=print&position=

[seabeyond]

1. by the time election rolls around

i predict this will all be mute. that iraq will have taken control of their country to extent the iraqi's will so want us out and things will be such a mess, if we havent already pretty much bailed, it will be evident to all we need to just go and leave it to them.

what is now wont be then.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. hmm it took more than four years to get to this

point in vietnam, this is good news actually

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. True. Maybe the "sheeple" will turn into thinking people by November?!?

[G_j]

7. I may be reading something else onto this

such as the need for Kerry to pay attention to how he articulates his own version of "staying the course". IMO, he needs to make the voters feel like there is a very clear choice.

[William Seger]

13. Like this?

Kerry's speech at Westminster College Friday was pretty damn good, if you ask me:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/30/kerry.iraq/index.html

[G_j]

16. thank you

I had only heard excerpts from this.
I think he is articulating his differences pretty well here.

[Kanary]

4. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a LEADER?

Someone who actually says it like it is, and INSPIRES?

sigh.....

Kanary

[TruthIsAll]

5. Schorr doesn't know about poll trends. The latest CBS poll shows

a dramatic reversal vis-a-vis Iraq.

It is not 50-50. We have passed the tipping point. It is clearly inevitable. Bush has lost the battle and he is losing the War. With six months to go...

B
U
S
H

I
S

T
O
A
S
T

[G_j]

6. in this same poll

Bush:

"It now stands at 46 percent, the lowest level of his presidency in The Times/CBS News Poll, down from 71 percent last March and a high of 89 percent just after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

At this point in his winning re-election race in 1996, President Bill Clinton's approval rating in The New York Times/CBS News Poll was 48 percent.

Mr. Bush's approval rating for his handling of Iraq was 41 percent, down from 49 percent last month and 59 percent in December."

[William Seger]

14. Wheat or white?

[sandnsea]

8. Unilateral, go-it-alone, stay the course???

Stay until a democracy is built vs. get out as quick as possible? This can mean so many different things to people that it's impossible to know what it means. And "stay the course" isn't even in the question polled. And Kerry clearly said on Friday that Bush needs to CHANGE course, immediately, because this may be the last chance to get it right.

Why do people know the media is biased and lies about everything, except when it comes to something negative about John Kerry? Hmmm.

[G_j]

10. do you have the link to the poll?

what was the question you refer to? I wasn't able to find it.

.. I didn't think it was negative toward Kerry.
the same poll puts Bush at an all time low.
I was under the impression that this particular poll looks very bad for Bush.

[sandnsea]

17. In the article

Right here. The media is intentionally lumping Bush & Kerry's plans as "stay the course", even though their plans are completely different. Of course, there are always those on the left who are more than happy to jump on anything that puts Kerry in a bad light, even using right wing talking points to do it.

"At a time when American troops are engaged in fierce battles in Najaf and Falluja, two centers of the Iraqi insurgency, the poll found that 46 percent of Americans thought the United States military should remain in Iraq for as long as it takes to create a stable democracy, even if it takes a long time, and 46 percent said the United States should withdraw as soon as possible."

[bigtree]

9. Polls are not worth the shills that report them

Or the kiss ass networks that produce them

No reflection on you, of course, G_j. :)

[G_j]

12. I agree that polls can't be trusted

of course when a poll puts Bush in the low numbers I can't help but want to believe it to some extent. :)

[bigtree]

15. If they report it, the numbers must be much worse

[kentuck]

11. Kerry must find a way to withdraw honorably...

..if there is one. It would be the height of folly to continue to follow the Bush policy.