Charles Nemo wrote:
WASHINGTON (USATODAY.com) - Democrat John Kerry holds his largest lead
yet over President Bush in a head-to-head match-up among likely
voters,
a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll concludes, and rival John Edwards also
holds a double-digit lead over the president. The poll, taken Feb.
16-17, indicates that if the election were held today, Kerry would be
chosen by 55% of likely voters, compared to 43% for Bush. In the last
polling, Feb. 6-8, Bush held a 49-48 advantage.
Edwards, Kerry's sole remaining major rival for the Democratic
nomination, holds a 54%-44% advantage, the poll indicates. The
question
has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The numbers come as both Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, and Edwards,
a senator from North Carolina, have maintained a relatively high
public
profile because of the ongoing Democratic presidential campaign. They
also come as questions continue to be raised about Bush's Vietnam-era
service in the National Guard.
Democrats hope Bush's troubles signal a decline that will end with an
election loss.
"There is a very strong risk that this president is irreparably
damaging
his credibility," Joe Lockhart, a former spokesman for President
Clinton, said earlier this month.
Bush's approval rating remained unchanged in the latest poll and
remains
near the lowest spot of his presidency. It currently stands at 51%,
with 46% disapproving and 3% of those polled offering no opinion.
Bush's low
of 49% - the only time his approval ratings have sunk below 50% in his
presidency - came in a Jan. 29-Feb. 1 survey.
Continuing a decline that has gone on for more than a year, 55% of
those surveyed said Bush was honest and trustworthy. That compares to
59% the
last time the question was asked in November, and 70% when the
question
was asked in early January 2003. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed
said Kerry was honest and trustworthy.
And only 42 percent agreed Bush did his duty for the country during
the Vietnam era, compared to 68 percent for Kerry.
Charles Nemo
http://members.aol.com/ChasNemo/index.html
"Nemo is the Wal-Mart of the dark side, the one-stop superstore for
everything ugly, from Satanism to Nazi occultism to serial killers."
~Forbidden Internet Magazine #1 (May 2001)
--
"Naturally, the common people don't want war;
neither in Russia nor in England nor in America,
nor for that matter in Germany.
That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders
of the country who determine the policy and
it is always a simple matter to drag the people
along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist
dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist
dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
That is easy. All you have to do is tell them
they are being attacked and denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing
the country to danger. It works the same way
in any country."
- Hermann Goering, Nazi Reichsmarshall
