There's been a lot of talk in the last few weeks pushing Jeb Bush as a candidate in 2012 but there's just one problem: a plurality of Americans say they would definitely not vote for another Bush for President in the future.
44% of voters in the country say there's no way they'd support another Bush Presidency. Only 14% say they'd definitely favor one, and 39% say they'd consider it. The Republican base is decently open to the idea of another Bush- only 10% distinctly rule out the possibility. But a majority of Democrats at 73% and most notably a majority of independents at 50% shut the door to another President Bush. Perhaps those feelings will change in the coming years but it's unlikely they'd shift enough by next November to allow Jeb to win an election that soon.
Interestingly though asked who they'd vote for if George W. Bush was allowed to run against Barack Obama for a third term next year, voters only go for Obama by a 48-44 margin. One thing that number shows is a softening of feelings toward the former President. His favorability is now a 41/49 spread, and he's back up to 81% of Republicans with a favorable opinion of him. His approval numbers with them were much lower than that in the closing years of his term but these figures suggest that all is forgiven, at least with the base.
The other thing they show though is the remarkable weakness at this point of the 2012 Republican field. Only Mike Huckabee, who trails by 3, does better in a match up against Obama than George W. Bush. Mitt Romney who trails by 5, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul who trail by 9, Sarah Palin who trails by 12, and Donald Trump who trails by 14 all do worse than that. Not a good sign when most of your leading lights fare worse than a former President who left office with atrocious poll numbers.
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9 comments:
Shows that the GOP counts on one thing more then anything else from it's base. A complete and total lack of the ability to REMEMBER and hold ACCOUNTABLE it's members.
The more Americans look back at President Bush the more they realize how successful he was, it just takes a little time.
Every President looks better once they've left office. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are more popular now then when they left office too.
@ Anonymous. U most be smoking something. Successful? Trust me, I wish that were the case. I like Dubya personally...but Black Monday will never be forgotten nor will Iraq WMD's remember? a little tough I know...
Wow. People have disturbingly short memories... I cannot believe that W is within 20 points of Obama. Disturbing.
The deeper we go into the 2012 campaign season, the more likely we will find none of the current GOP names be the real candidate. Is this country ready for a President who looks like John Goodman? Afterall, Goodman was the Rep. Prez in the made believed TV show of the WH. He sure isn't saying he is running, but he sure is stirring up the talks. Is this country ready for some blunt, adult conversation that we are about to go under because of all those great programs passed by past Democrat presidents like FDR, LBJ, and likely Obamacare next? If we go under, will there be any pollings left to see who is running against any democrats.
We're not "going under" because of medicare, social security, or health care reform. We are going under because of an economic system which favors the wealthy over all other Americans. The disparity between the rich and the poor in America is approaching 3rd world levels.
The "adult conversation" is that it's time to raise taxes on the rich back to pre-Reagan levels.
Remember that it was Reagan who essentially created the deficit as we know it today by slashing taxes for the rich (remember that money was supposed to "trickle down" - it's been 30 years and we're still waiting for it to start trickling...)
I think the GOP has a very good shot at this based on your poll and the 2010 results. Both Huckabee and Romney come across much better on television than McCain did. Mitch Daniels, Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney will probably come across as moderates. And if we see Chris Christie starting to look slimmer, maybe he is running too.
What about a hypothetical matchup between W and Clinton? Or Washington vs. Lincoln?
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