I know this board leans somewhat left. And I mean this as a serious question - so please try to keep your jokes and insults to a minimum. Who are the people who continue to support President Bush?
I believe he still enjoys the support of 35-40% of the American public, and as many as 26% believe he is doing a very good job in Iraq.
Cites here and here.
So who and where are the millions of people who still support this man? And why? Do they support him on social policy or economic bases sufficiently that they don’t care as much what is going on in Iraq? Do they think Bush’s foreign policy actions will not affect them? Who seriously thinks that last night’s speech described a plan likely to resolve the Iraq War? Do the general distinctions between “Red” and “Blue” states from the last couple of elections still hold?
I guess a related question would be - what exactly does it mean to “approve” of him? Are respondents simply commenting whether or not they think he is doing a good job, or whether they think someone else could do better?
Is there a number below which approval ratings would never drop? A percentage of committed Dems or Repubs who would support their party’s man in office no matter what he did?
Well they’d be late forty somethings to sixty somethings, male, white, most likely veterans, on the wealthy side of middleclass, and republican since they served in the military.
How exact do you want us to be when you say “what does a current bush supporter look like?”
No less than hair color and distinguishing marks, of course.
I guess I’d also like it if you would say why you believe those folks would tend to support Bush.
I’m not a veteran myself, but my understanding was that tho Bush favors spending on the military, his policies have not been tremendously supportive of individual soldiers/veterans. And while active military follow orders, I’m not sure why vets would necessarily favor forces being placed in their current position. Is there a philosophy or theory of international relations that would lead vets to believe what we are accomplishing in Iraq is a good/necessary thing?
If you are serious, try Free Republic. You will see a great many Bush supporters, and they explain their reasons (sort of).
I mean, really, I sort of understand what you’re trying to do, but there are plenty of places on the internet where you can see the discussions/rationalizations of Bush supporters. I don’t think this is really necessary.
Yes, case in point my father, 30 year sub vet served as captain of a few old diesel ships under admiral Rickover. Basically, what Rickover said goes, he and the president came before God. Period. Did everyone think this way? No. But I’ve been to enough functions at my dads home where he and his buddies are tying a good scotch on, talking about how the Commander in Cheif (uncle bush) is setting up for the future, and how we can’t be afraid of war, etc…etc… and how the US Navy is more formidable now than ever before etc…etc… ad infinitum
This page will tell you exactly who they are – i.e., the level of approval for Bush among each of the nine groupings of the 2005 Pew Political Typology.
Of course, the data having been collected in 2005, the above (showing overall approval of W split 49/49) may be out of date. But the relative support levels of the nine groups probably have not changed.
You’d be surprised at how right and how wrong this is. Wrong in regards to the female 20somethings I’ve dated that supported him (those didn’t last hah!) and right in regards to my parents (minus military service, and the male part on my mom). So like most classifications this is great for a stereotype, but is by no means complete
Most folks have a social issue (or a few issues) that they have strong feelings for.
For example, they may be pro-life, and hope that somehow, Roe V. Wade might get overturned. (Or, on even a tighter focus, they may be in favor of Parental Notification Laws in regards to minors getting abortions, which the Democrats typically do not support.)
Other issues, not so much.
So, they support the candidate that they think is the most closely aligned with their views on the subjects that matter to them the most.
In regards to Bush supporters, I shall make some guesses and generalisations:
Pro-life/Parental Notification supporters support Republican, as I tried to explain above.
Taxes. For those who live “pay check to pay check”, a rise in taxes is seen as, effectively, a pay cut. Republicans have been somewhat succesful in making it appear that taxes will go up with the Dems in charge. This is somewhat offset by Dem. promises to raise the minimum wage. But I think it still slightly favors the Rep., as there are a lot of middle class folks (like me) who earn a bit above the minimum wage (and thus won’t benefit from a raise in the minimum wage), but still live pay check to pay check…
National Defense is still perceived as being a stronger Rep. issue than Dem. “While the President is screwing up, at least he is trying something. What will the Dem.'s do? Lawsuits?” Or so the thinking might go…
Gun ownership. The NRA has been effective with it’s hyperbole, and the Dem.‘s are perceived as strongly anti-gun in legislative terms. I personally feel that the USA won’t slide into a fascist police state, a-la Germany 1933, because every swingin’ manhood can find a rifle. This makes something like a military coup, and/or nationwide martial law established over the country rather impractical if the super majority of the folks don’t think it’s needed.
Do not forget the people who simply vote (and think) along party lines. They voted Republican Bush and they will remain Republican Bush even if he torches the Earth (and this is by no mean exclusive to Republican Bush, of course)
One distinguishing characteristic is the red knuckles which develop when walking on same.
The typical Bush backer is woefully ignorant on foreign policy (as is he) and still thinks that the Iraq war is in some way connected with 9/11. They believe that the only casualties that matter in the Iraqi Civil War are American and the 600,000 dead Iraqis represent that many fewer terrorists or future terrorists. They believe that the mention of the phrase “9/11” conveys with it permanent possession of the Moral High Ground and with it the God-given right to murder, oppress, and torture Scary Brown People.
Many Bush backers have backward views on sexuality, reproductive freedom, and the role of church in a modern society. They view homosexuality as a grave threat to the sanctity of marriage and believe that a clump of cells the size of a booger has as much right as an adult human. They would see nothing wrong with requiring the recital of The Lord’s Prayer in public schools and think that the United States was founded on Christianity.
Many Bush backers are obsessed with firearms and believe that any measure to control any weapon, no matter how deadly and useless for hunting or self defense, is but an initial step in the bogeyman’s quest for confiscating all privately owned guns. They can recite by heart the Second Half of the Second Amendment but haven’t a clue about the intent of the first half.
Many Bush backers are of modest means but believe that the Estate Tax, which wouldn’t affect estates tenfold their own personal net worth, are going to keep their children from inheiriting their homes. They believe that government services that they approve of should be provided but that nobody should have to pay for them. Saint Ronald taught them that there is a free lunch and by golly they are going to eat it. They believe that taxes need to be cut on millionaires and that the vice president’s cronies have every right to gorge themselves at the public trough.
As short, they are as ignorant a group as exists on the planet.
Mrs. & Mr. Butler1850. We’re still not sure where the Butlerette’s political views will land, but we hope they will be more inline with ours and Mrs. Butler’s parents, rather than the bleeding heart Masshole parents of Mr. Butler.
They are also quite good looking, mid-30s, white, 50% female, have never served in the military, worked hard to get to the middle of middle class, partly contrary to how Phlosphr described us.
Still happy that Bush is in office rather than Gore or Kerry.
50% of the population has below-average intelligence.
And though I haven’t read it myself (yet), John Dean’s Conservatives Without Conscience proportedly talks about studies that show how 30%-35% of all people will accept any sort of leadership from “authoritarian personalities,” and that these folks are the type who will back Bush, reality be damned. Someone who has actually read the book can probably provide more details.
I guess you could call me a Bush backer. I voted for him twice and would do so again if the alternative was John Kerry or Al Gore.
I recorded his speech last night, but haven’t been able to watch it yet. I guess how I would answer a public opinion poll on Bush would depend on the contents of the speech, the phrasing of the question and my mood at the time.
Most days I would answer yes, that I do support the president. Some days, such as after his horrible “comprehensive immigration plan” speech, I would not.
Let’s see how accurately BobLibDem nailed me:
I have long arms, and indeed a long torso. I need to always buy extra tall shirts. However, I do have somewhat long legs to match, so I am generally proportioned appropriately.
I’m not ignorant on foreign policy at all. I’m certainly more aware of the world than a typical American, not that that is much to brag about.
However, I am aware that there is a connection to the Iraq war and 9/11. They are both parts of the war on terror. Saddam and Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks on 9/11 of course, but its silly to think that we’d be in Iraq now had it not been for that day. So, yes, the two are connected in some ways, depending on what you mean by that.
I’m more concerned with American casualties than I am by Iraqi casualties. Most Americans are. It’s only natural. I think it’s unfortunate that many Iraqis are dead, but I’m glad that many terrorists are being killed by US forces in Iraq. I wish less innocents were being killed by the chaos there.
I’m not a religious man, I’m not in favor of torturing or oppressing anyone and I’m not afraid of brown people even when they are capitalized.
I’m an atheist who is pro-choice. I don’t want homosexual marriage, as most of the country does not also. I’m all for stem cell research. I’m against prayer in school. Ideally, I’d like to see the pledge have the G word taken out, but I’m pragmatic enough to realize that demanding this hurts the non-believers cause more than it helps.
I can recite the whole thing. I realize that it’s silly to think the founders gave a right in the second half that they take away in the first half. Clearly the 2nd gives the individual the right to own guns. There are many politicians, mostly democrat, who do want to ban guns to varying degrees. More than any other right, the right of gun ownership is under constant threat. I donate regularly to the NRA-ILA to ensure that pro-gun politicians are elected.
There are also anti gunners on the GOP side, of course. I won’t be supporing Rudy in his bid for the presidency because of his anti-gun leanings.
I am middle class, and loath the estate tax. By the time I’m old and dying peacefully in my bed the Estate tax may very well effect my family. Anything is possible. However, even if only one in a thousand people is affected by the tax, wrong is wrong.
I’m for lower taxes. We’re taxed at least twice as much as we should be. This doesn’t mean I want a free lunch. Our government is wasteful and bloated. I don’t expect it to operate for free, but I do expect it to operate more efficiently than it does now.
I’m alarmed by the corruption of the politicians in the GOP. I’m not dumb enough to think that it’s going to be any different with the Democrats in charge though.
You would be doing yourself a great service if you were to open your mind up to the concept that it’s possible for other people to know as much as you do, yet still disagree with you.
Debaser, you made several good points, some of which I agree with, some of which I do not.
This isn’t one of them. It boils down to “Iraq and 9/11 are connected because we went to war in Iraq based on the claim that doing so had something to do with 9/11.” It’s begging the question.
I don’t understand this part. I served in the military, but I’m about as liberal as you can get (and hence, never a Republican). And I’m hardly the only one. I don’t support Bush, obviously. I don’t get what “Republican since they served in the military” means. I think it would be apparent that most Bush supporters are Republicans, but what does military service have to do with it? Maybe I’m just reading that incorrectly.
