Independent Voters Are Having Buyer's Remorse

[No Limit]

Great, just wish these people payed a little more attention in November of last year; maybe we wouldn't be so deep in the hole right now if they did.

Business Week, July 18, 2005

Just nine months after giving George W. Bush the crucial swing votes he needed to best John Kerry, political independents are bolting out of the Republican Big Tent. Angered by GOP meddling in the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case, reeling from record gasoline prices, and depressed by the escalating cycle of violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, unaligned voters are suddenly lining up with Democrats to give Bush the lowest ratings of his Presidency. The disenchantment extends beyond the White House to the GOP Congress: Only 31% of independents say Congress is in touch with their concerns, according to a June 14-15 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll....

For Republicans, an exodus of voters like Rego could have profound repercussions. Because 67% of independents think Bush will appoint a Supreme Court justice whose religious beliefs will inappropriately influence judicial rulings, according to Gallup, Dems may be emboldened to dig in for a long showdown....

The swing-voter stampede started after the extraordinary intervention by Bush and the GOP Congress in the Schiavo case. Now socially moderate independents -- who strongly favor expanded stem cell research and oppose overturning Roe v. Wade -- fear that the majority party is in thrall to the Religious Right. "These people lean more Republican because of fiscal issues, but they're much more liberal on social issues," says independent pollster Dick Bennett of American Research Group. "After Schiavo, they said, 'Wait a minute. We didn't buy in for that."'

Add to the toxic political mix sticker-shock at the gas pump and growing worries about post-Saddam Iraq. In an about-face, formerly hawkish indies now side with Democratic war critics. According to Gallup, just 31% of swing voters say Bush has a clear plan for Iraq, and 60% call the U.S. invasion a mistake. Alan Rego recently attended services for a friend's brother killed in Iraq. "The kid was my age," he recalls. "I voted for Bush because he seemed to have a plan to deal with terrorism, but Iraq is becoming another Vietnam."

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_29/c3943060_mz013.htm

 

[Razor]

They only have themselves to blame and why exactly would Bush care, he doesn't give a shit as no matter what happens, he is out at the end of the term anyway.

 

[No Limit]

They only have themselves to blame and why exactly would Bush care, he doesn't give a shit as no matter what happens, he is out at the end of the term anyway.

I don't know, if he was loyal and had moral conviction as he claims he does he would want to be the best president he could be so in 08 another Republican that shares the same vision as him could get elected. However, I honestly think he is president to help his buddies in big business and doesn't care about Republican "morals" or "issues". What I don't understand is why so many of these Republicans follow him blindly when he clearly isn't doing anything to help their cause. But don't get me wrong, I don't really mind; mid-term elections are about a year away and 08 really isn't that far from now. All he is doing is helping us.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Independent voters always complain afterwords. Perot voters in 91 after Clinton won, Buchanan voters in 00 after Bush won, etc etc.