I think this is correct. Not that you don’t have poll data, but that most people probably support a progressive tax rate.
While I started in on this thread responding to a post about Kerry/Edwards, I should state for the record that I don’t believe Bush has been effective in uniting the country.
I can’t remember the exact date, but a few months ago the NYT Sunday Magazine did an interesting article about how our “divided country” is really not so divided after all. IIRC, the conclusion was that the division we see on 24-hr cable news is more an artifact of the conditions inside the beltway in DC than what one sees in the rest of America.
I voted for Bush in 2000. Had he not invaded Iraq and not signed onto the gay bashing amendment, I’d likely hold my nose and vote for him in 2004. I’m not saying he had to support gay marriage, just not support the Constitutional amendment. He wasn’t a decent enough human to even do that.
I never wanted to become a Democrat. Bush made me one. I didn’t leave the GOP. I was driven out.
This is why I think Bush will lose in November. I have heard this sentiment many times, but I have yet to hear anyone who voted for Gore in 2000 now say, “I will vote for Bush in 2004”. Bush can’t afford to lose any votes, yet that is what his policies are doing; driving voters away. Combined this with a larger than expected Democratic turnout, and we will have more than enough votes to overcome whatever election fraud the Republicans have planned this time.