MyDD :: Significant Plurality Says Rove Should Resign

Significant Plurality Says Rove Should Resign

by Chris Bowers, Tue Jul 26, 2005 at 07:31:42 PM EST

Gallup has some bad news for Rove (emphasis mine):

n contrast, by 34% to 25%, Americans have an unfavorable view of Rove; 25% have never heard of him. Seen by many as Bush's most powerful White House adviser, Rove has been in the news lately because of an investigation into whether administration officials illegally leaked the name of a CIA operative to reporters. The controversy hasn't gripped the public's attention. Just half of those surveyed say they are following the story closely; one in five aren't following it at all.

Even so, 25% think Rove broke the law in the case. An additional 37% suspect that he did something unethical but not illegal. Just 15% say they think he didn't do anything seriously wrong.

Those surveyed are split almost evenly, 40%-39%, over whether Bush should fire him. By 49% to 31%, a plurality says he should resign.

I highlighted the one section to show just how horribly the main Republican spin, that Rove didn't really do anything wrong and was just helping to correct a story, is completely falling flat with the public. In fact, it is falling so flat, we really need to start using the Republican spin against them, perhaps as our main talking point. Why can't a single elected Republican say that there was something wrong with what Rove did? Even McCain is spouting off Republican talking points on this one.

This situation reminds me of the direction of the country numbers, and the phrase that should be our money line for 2006: this is the best Republicans think things can be. They like the way things are going. They approve of our national direction. We need to keep reminding America of this fact.

I also don't know where Gallup gets off claiming that the story hasn't gripped the public's attention. Half of the country says they are following the story closely, and people supposedly aren't paying attention? Whatever. Half of the country doesn't watch the Superbowl for crying out loud, but you would be hard pressed to find someone to say that the Superbowl doesn't grab the public's attention.

This poll also confirms an earlier poll by Pew that showed a significant plurality in favor of Rove's resignation. As you can see from the graphic on the right, once again Democrats and Independents nearly equal one another, while Republicans are out of step with the rest of the country. If nothing else, that shows just how powerful the Republican Noise Machine is, and the size of the audience for alternative conservative media. They are clearly living in an utterly different reality. That may be a little too much for the strident and absolutist blogosphere to accept, but Republicans are reality-based, just a different reality.

Tags: Republicans (all tags)

Permalink :: 9 Comments :: Post a Comment

The Line (none / 0)

Republicans are failure.

by Covin on Tue Jul 26, 2005 at 07:36:41 PM EST

Well, then... (none / 0)

...if a significant majority of Americans want Rove to resign, we can expect the DLC to write a column about how liberals are bad because they want Rove to resign, and the only way for Democrats to win is to show how "tough" they are and defend Rove.

by peterbernard on Tue Jul 26, 2005 at 07:50:45 PM EST

If (none / 0)

If 25% of people have never heard of Rove... Why would (at least) 25% of THOSE people have an opinion as to whether or not he should resign?

morons.

Invest in nature

by NCDem on Tue Jul 26, 2005 at 08:15:55 PM EST

We need to take back the house (none / 0)

then we can hold hearings. The real story here is when did President find out about treasongate. Was he part of the plan to out Plame?

The reason Bush won the election was the security issue. No 911, Bush loses in a landslide. The country voted him back in office to protect the country. Now we find out that he puts party loyalty ahead of the nation's security.

Why did they out Plame? Was it to punish Joe Wilson? Yes, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Why was Rove so worry about Wilson's report? I think they were worry that his report could convince the nation that the need to war with Iraq did not exist. In fact anyone of importance who could have convinced the nation that the war was unnecessary was smear.

If Bush was worry about the nation's security, why was he worry about evidence that Iraq was not a threat to the United States reaching the public? Because, the war with Iraq was never about threats to the nation or the war on terrorism. It was about something else. What I do not know.

If we take the house back, the hearings could prove that the GOP puts party loyalty above the nations security and maybe find out the true purpose for the Iraq War. That would break the advantage the GOP has held on the security issue.

Gandhi - "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

by HCLiberal on Tue Jul 26, 2005 at 10:12:32 PM EST

Plurality (none / 0)

Time for a whopping big terror alert

by judyo on Tue Jul 26, 2005 at 11:56:12 PM EST

Hi. I don't know if I am following the news (none / 0)

about Rove or not. Like 1% of America, I am a total waste of oxygen. Please kill me.

by TJonBergman on Wed Jul 27, 2005 at 12:27:13 AM EST

Do 50% of Americans care about runaway white girls (none / 0)

Or Michael Jackson's trial? Or Robert Blake's trial?

What was the last issue that half of the country said it was following closely? Can you say Impreachment?

What was the last issue before Impeachment that half of the country said it was following closely? Was there anything between Watergate and Whitewater that half the country followed closely?

by Gary Boatwright on Wed Jul 27, 2005 at 03:50:14 AM EST

numbers look good (none / 0)

nice post. I can only confirm that this gets talked
about alot in coffee shops around Atlanta.
People are outraged that there is a traitor
so close to the president, I have to say they
like the president here - but they're not
so happy about the fact that people committed
treason around him and they're really starting
to talk about how maybe Rove is weighing bush
and the rest of the GOP down. Don't get me wrong,
I'm an independent, but there just aren't
any democrats around here (except maybe dekalb county) and people don't think of this as
a partisan issue. I can only think of one person
so far out here that has barked back the
republican talking points. They all want
real, substantive policy change. Not this kind
of stuff.

by turnerbroadcasting on Wed Jul 27, 2005 at 11:20:16 AM EST

DFS (none / 0)

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by llalx on Sun Aug 28, 2005 at 10:35:01 PM EST

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