Democrats Gaining in the Polls

The corruption of the Bush Administration and the Republican-led Congress is turning off Americans by the millions. And the failure of Bush and his fellow Republicans to do anything in Iraq except sit and watch with an occassional photo op thrown in is not impressing anyone.

USA Today has the latest polling information on the state of our political parties and Washington:

Americans are paying unusually close attention to the congressional elections in November, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. They are more inclined to deliver significant gains to Democrats than in any year since Republicans won control of the House and Senate in 1994.

Those surveyed are more concerned about national issues than local ones — a situation that favors Democrats hoping to tap discontent over the Iraq war and gasoline prices — and prefer Democrats over Republicans on handling every major issue except terrorism.

(snip)

Among the findings:

• Americans are interested in the election at levels not usually seen in non-presidential years. More than a third have thought "quite a lot" about the congressional elections. Seven of 10 say they are very motivated to get out and vote this year.

• Democrats are particularly engaged: 56% say they are "more enthusiastic about voting than usual," the highest level recorded since the question was first asked in 1994. Among Republicans, 43% say they are more enthusiastic than usual.

• Americans are increasingly likely to identify themselves as Democrats. Including those who "lean" to one party or the other, 55% call themselves Democrats; 38%, Republicans. That's the biggest edge for Democrats since 1998. By 54%-38%, the registered voters surveyed say they'd vote for a Democratic congressional candidate over a Republican one if the election were held today.

In the spring of 2004, John Kerry was ahead of Bush in the polls and steadily slipped before the election; a lot of the slippage was due to Republicans games and the millions they spent undermining Democrats while effectively hiding their own problems (a lack of investigations will do that). So it's important to realize that November is more than four months off.

I'm surprised Americans still think Bush does well on terrorism. Bush has lost Somalia. He's in danger of losing Afghanistan through neglect. Osama bin Laden is still loose. Our policies in Iraq create more problems than they solve. And of course Bush's fear mongering does not serve the nation well.

Most Americans don't like to think badly of their president even when he belongs to the opposite party, but it's time to stop pretending that Bush cares about average Americans or knows what he's doing. If Bush were an honest man, he would demand to know what happened to billions that were lost during Iraq reconstruction. He would demand to know where the money has gone for rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. He would demand that money from Homeland Security go to areas of the country most at risk from terrorism. Bush has done none of these things and the Republicans in Congress not only refuse to hold him accountable but wink and nod and do a few things of their own they shouldn't be doing. Enough is enough.