Country polarized over president, his policies as GOP convenes to pick Bus

[UpInArms]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/08/29/MNGA88ERLH80.DTL

excerpt:

The country is divided over fundamental policy: how to proceed in Iraq, improve health care, improve schools and create new jobs, and whether to restrict stem-cell research, ban same-sex marriage and raise taxes. On the eve of the Republican convention, there also is an enormous emotional divide over the man seeking a second term.

Bush remains the darling of his party, with no rival in the primaries and hardly a peep of dissent over his candidacy among the GOP faithful. He has raised more money than any politician before him, and for a prolonged period following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Bush enjoyed the highest approval ratings of any president in history.

Yet in the four years since he first accepted his party's nomination, opposition to his policies have inspired new levels of political activism among opponents. Bush has also driven many detractors to the brink of rage, where the very sound of his voice or the sight of his face on television prompts an intense, gut-level reaction.

<snip>

"These are big issues at stake,'' Cain said. "Almost everything (Democrats) care about is under siege -- the environment, internationalism, social justice, abortion. I have not seen the Democratic Party so united against a single Republican since Nixon.''

...more...

[daa]

1. I wonder why?

"I have not seen the Democratic Party so united against a single Republican since Nixon."

Maybe because we haven't seen a bigger lying, more secretive weasel in the White House since Nixon. What hasn't chimpy f*ucked up?

[Catt03]

2. Speaks for me

good article. Pretty basic and I see it the same way. I loathe the way he talks, walks, smirks and everything he stands for.

[young_at_heart]

3. If he is truly "the darling" of his party then the US is in big trouble

Is this really true....Republicans think he's fantastically wonderful? I can only feel perplexed to the max. My entire family has the gut-level reaction to him.....my husband can handle watching him on TV, but I have to leave the room!

[calimary]

5. That's my gut reaction, too. My husband starts making snide remarks

when bush appears on TV. I usually just salute with my middle finger. And THEN I leave the room. I suppose I could fight him for the remote, but I wouldn't know how to work it if I did get it (it's one of those unbelievably complicated ones that the electronics know-nothing in me can't decipher). So I leave the room. I prefer the more grandiose physical statement, anyway.

[Inland]

6. Bush ISN'T the darling of the Rep party

In fact, he is hardly recognizable as a republican. He could a spokesman for any of the extremist, one issue groups who try to influence the parties, like the christian pressure groups, a business lobbyist, or a neocon think tank, but a party member? What part of the republican party does HE speak for?

Why do you think he suddenly wants to appear with McCain, Giuliani and Arnold?

[barb162]

4. I think the polls are being done wrong

the pollers should also be asking
who is the best christian?
who will keep us safer?
what is the most important issue to you and which candidate represents the right answer for you?

I suspect you will find Bush will win if the pollers get answers to these types of questions.

I think there are far more people right now who buy into the crap and will vote against their economic and other interests, like jobs, health care, etc., in place of VALUES. All you have to do is look at the % of vets who will vote for Bush rather than Kerry even though Kerry will increase vet benefits, not get us into useless wars, etc. The vets will look at Kerry and say he dissed us when he sat in front of Congress in the 70s. The vets look at Bush and say he doesn't diss us. (Bush doesn't diss the vets, he just screws them over in every way, BUT THE VETS IGNORE THAT LITTLE FACT).

This scares me, depresses the hell out of me, etc., as I think this country has in fact gone over the edge and will re-elect Bush.

[young_at_heart]

7. Why don't the vets realize that Kerry helped end the war?

Once Kerry and many others "dissed" Vietnam, you couldn't fight the war much longer. Kerry helped the vets, but evidently many of them don't understand the politics of war.

[barb162]

8. complex subject

People are in fact voting values and NOT their interests. That is the only thing that explains the vets going for Bush. Kerry is pro- vet. But all they seem to see (remember) about Kerry is the dissing/truth-telling (dishonor) caused by his comments in Congress in the 70s. They don't seem to see that he told the truth and his comment about who wants to be the last one to die for that dumb war doesn't seem to be remembered either. And they don't want to remember that we were going to lose that war anyway and he just wanted to end it early and get less people killed. But this is all about values summed up by the GOP stooges... he dissed the vets. Then the swiftie/liars get thrown in the mix.

That's what the vets are picking up on. I guess if you repeat lies ofen enough....
DUH.

[CrazyAtheist]

9. Bush is amazingly divisive

I am not suprised people would vote for a table over Bush. The table wouldn't piss them off.