[email protected]

Pols Apart

Though unscientific I still got a kick out of an AOL poll that asked users their views of President George “Jesus is my favorite philosopher” Bush and President Bill “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” Clinton.

As of this writing, nearly 500,000 votes have been cast and the winner is…Bill Clinton.  On the question of who’s more trustworthy, Clinton outpolled Bush 62% to 38%.  As for who’s the better president, there’s no contest.  Clinton won by a landslide -- 67% to 33%.

And since today is International Students Day, a poll by the Harvard Institute of Politics (and you don’t get more scientific than that) is instructive.  The "kids are alright" in that they likewise rate Bush at the bottom:

College students, tracking with other Americans, give President Bush an all-time low approval rating. As recent national polls show Americans giving President Bush near historic low approval ratings below forty percent (40 percent), only forty-one percent (41 percent) of college students say they approve of the job George W. Bush is doing as President, down six points from just seven months ago. What's more, only eleven percent (11 percent) say they trust the President to do the right thing all of the time, down from twenty-two percent (22 percent) from Fall 2001 IOP polling. Fifty-two percent (52 percent) of college students said they trust the United Nations to do the right thing all or most of the time, while only thirty-nine percent (39 percent) said the same about the President.

Father of the Blues

As a blues lover, I must make note that today marks the birth of W.C. Handy.  Mr. Handy’s contribution to American music is what gets me through the day -- and night.

One of my most memorable experiences was watching a film clip of Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of “The Saint Louis Blues” as Mr. Handy looked on.  The audience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music where the film was screened went nuts.  OK, it was a short trip but if you ever get a chance to see that performance, you’ll know why.

Asian Flew

As President Bush flies off to Asia, his approval ratings have flown the coop.  According to the latest USA Today/CNN/ Gallup Poll:

Fewer than one in 10 adults say they would prefer a congressional candidate who is a Republican and who agrees with Bush on most major issues…Even among Republicans, seven of 10 are most likely to back a candidate who has at least some disagreements with the president.

Bush's job approval rating sank to a record low 37%. The poll finds growing criticism of the president, unease about the nation's direction and opposition to the Iraq war…

A 53% majority say they trust what Bush says less than they trusted previous presidents while they were in office. In a specific comparison with President Clinton, those surveyed by 48%-36% say they trust Bush less.

Oops, so much for Bush’s 2000 campaign pledge to “restore honor and dignity to the White House.”  The chickens have come home to roost (and here).  And much to Bush’s dismay, patriotic Americans no longer confuse support for the mess in Iraq (here and here) with support for the troops (and here).

He Ain't All That

Oh well, another day and another attempt by Republicans to make political hay over some remarks about an unremarkable politician -- Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele.  I’ve known Steele for about 10 years and, trust me, he ain’t all that.

Sure, Steele is the first African American to win statewide in Maryland but he won with 11 percent of the black vote.  That’s the same baseline of black support that Republican candidates get unless they do something stupid (and here).   Republicans are playing the race card to try to drive a wedge between voters and Steele’s eventual Democratic opponent in the 2006 election.

On “Meet the Press” yesterday, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman dealt from the bottom of the deck with this parting shot:

Well, one thing I was surprised not to hear was the Democrats around the country, there's been an utter silence in response to what have been vicious and racist attacks on Michael Steel [sic] in Maryland.  Michael Steel is the first statewide African-American--it's my state; I grew up in Maryland--the first statewide African-American ever elected.  He's now running for the United States Senate.  Yet, the Democratic Senate president called this man an Uncle Tom because he doesn't agree with him on issues.  He's had racial epithets thrown at him.  He's been derided on a Web site that the Democrats have.  And while some Democrats in Maryland have criticized him, there's been utter silence from national Democrats on this important issue.  I would hope on this morning's program that Chairman Dean would condemn this kind of racist and bigoted activity.  It's wrong.  I would also hope he'd condemn the following.  There are a whole bunch of Democratic candidates and Republican candidates around the country.  But Charles Schumer and the Democratic campaign committee chose one candidate to go after his credit report and engage in identity theft against them and that's Michael Steel, this African-American candidate in Maryland.  I think we should be welcoming him to the process as I welcomed Mr. Mfume to the process and I think it's a mistake to make these attacks.

As Tim Russert noted, the real “mistake” was President Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina:

But your whole program of reaching out to African-Americans to join the Republican Party was dealt a pretty serious setback with the way the federal government managed the whole response to Katrina, an image that has really been indelibly made into a black consciousness that somehow they were left behind in New Orleans.

Though I’m bored with Steele, I also know that Republicans believe if they repeat a Big Lie often enough, it’ll become conventional wisdom -- at least in the mainstream media.  So, they’re using attacks against Steele -- real or imagined -- to try to convince their target audience of swing voters that the party of Katherine Harris and the Confederate flag is now as pure as the driven snow and that Democrats are the new racists who can't be trusted.

Remembering Veterans

In his second inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln promised veterans:

With malice toward none, with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish, a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

Lincoln's words are engraved on plaques at the headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a three-block hike from the White House.  President Bush and Congressional Republicans should take a hike because it's past time for them to keep Lincoln’s promise (and here).

Charmed, I'm Sure

It’s serendipitous that I’m in Charm City today.  While here, I’ll conduct an unscientific poll and ask black Baltimoreans whether they think the Lieutenant Governor is a “Man of Steele” or an unalloyed apologist for policies and Republicans whom they viscerally oppose.

Later, I’ll sample the charms of Fell’s Point, including, I hope, some blues at Bertha’s and The Horse You Came In On Saloon.  Hey, it’s a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it.

How Sweet It Is

I’m not referring to the reelection of one of my favorite politicians, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.  Instead, I felt a sweet sensation when I read the latest Pew Research Center poll.  President Bush’s approval rating is now 36% -- the lowest of his presidency.  And get this:

Bush is also now facing a significant loss of support within his own party­ particularly among moderate Republicans.  Overall, the proportion of Republicans who approve of Bush’s job in office has dropped from 89% just after the 2004 election to 77% today.

Oh yeah, Bush's boy, Jerry Kilgore, lost to Democrat Tim Kaine in Virginia (here and here).  The honeymoon (and here) is so over.