I don't think George Bush is done. I think aspects of his leadership of this country have been more than appalling but it isn't me that is saying this. It's the Washington Post.
The recent White House shake-up was an attempt to jump-start the administration and boost President Bush's rock-bottom approval ratings, but have those efforts come too late to salvage the presidency? A prominent GOP pollster thinks that may be the case.
"This administration may be over," Lance Tarrance, a chief architect of the Republicans' 1960s and '70s Southern strategy, told a gathering of journalists and political wonks last week. "By and large, if you want to be tough about it, the relevancy of this administration on policy may be over."
A new poll by RT Strategies, the firm headed by Tarrance and Democratic pollster Thomas Riehle, shows that 59 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush's job performance, while 36 percent approve -- a finding in line with other recent polls.
Tarrance said it would be extremely difficult for any president to bounce back this late in his administration and reassert influence on Capitol Hill when his approval rating barely exceeds his party's base support and half of all adults surveyed said they "strongly disapprove" of his performance. An overwhelming 73 percent of independents disapprove of Bush's performance, and two-thirds of those "strongly disapprove."
Bush's on-going woes aside, we have one too.
Not many people are voting.
The thing is when 22 percent of the voting population in my county doesn't vote, change in the leadership of our country is becoming quite despondent. I think it goes without saying that will 
all of the "Get Out Of the Vote" public service/self-promotions spots in the newspaper, we invested thousand of dollars in newsprint real estate.
Still, No one got out to vote. When eminent domain was a big deal, I felt people would bolt to the polls in a zombie rage.
Nada.
So, if this is going to happen in almost every major city in Tennessee, what's going to happen in August and November. What's going to happen in 2008?
My newspaper is moderately progressive (I have to bite my tongue some) but we do want to inact change in convincing voters that it is a joy and a privilege to go to the polls. We are willing to invest the money in getting voters off their duffs. We are relaunching a web-site that, and I'm crossing my fingers, will knock folks socks off.
We can help. But how? How many articles can you right about a person's right to vote? How do we hit voters where they will believe they make a difference.
Got any suggestions. I have a little newspaper real estate. Do you guys have any ideas on how to use it?
¶ 5/07/2006 07:35:00 PM
: 5/08/2006 06:12:00 AM : 5/08/2006 06:13:00 AMSubscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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