Survey USA is reporting a dynamic “can’t win” situation unfolding for Bush.
The Hurrieder President Bush Goes, The
Behinder He Gets:3 polling days after George W. Bush’s prime-time speech to the nation
from Jackson Square in New Orleans, a “can’t win” dynamic is unfolding for
the President, according to exclusive SurveyUSA data gathered Friday 9/16,
Saturday 9/17 and Sunday 9/18. The number of Americans who now approve of
the President’s response to Hurricane Katrina is down: 40% today compared to
42% before he announced the Gulf Opportunity Zone. The number of Americans
who disapprove of the President’s response to Katrina is up: 56% today
compared to 52% before the speech. Bush went from “Minus 10” on his Response
to Katrina before the speech to “Minus 16” today. One way to make sense of
these numbers is to look at the number of Americans who today say the
Federal Government is doing “too much” for Katrina victims. That’s up to 16%
today, more than triple what the number has been on 7 of the 19 days that
SurveyUSA has conducted daily tracking since the storm. The more cash
President Bush throws on the fire, as compensation for what some see as an
inadequate initial response, the more it antagonizes his core supporters.
Consider, for example: the number of Whites who today say the Government is
“not doing enough” for Katrina victims is statistically the same as the
number of Whites who say the Government is doing “just the right amount.”
(41% “right amount”; 40% “not enough.”) The number of Blacks who today say
the Government is “not doing enough” is 51 percentage points higher than the
number of Blacks who say the Government is doing the “right amount” (70%
“not enough”; 19% “right amount.”) That’s a 53-point disagreement between
Whites and Blacks on this question. What other poll results point to the
conclusion that the President is damned if he does, and damned if he
doesn’t? 41% of Americans today say that the city of New Orleans should be
rebuilt with “private money,” the highest that number has been in the 19
days since the storm. The number of Americans who today say New Orleans
should be rebuilt with “public money” is 27%, as low as it has been in 19
days of daily tracking.
I was kind of expecting this sort of response. Polls are starting to slowly
surface that reflect the impact of Bush’s speech and they all are reflecting
either no gain or less of an approval rating. This should come as no surprise as
Bush was not really going to gain any support from Democrats in his speech and
his “throw money” at the situation approach is not sitting well with
conservatives.