Poll: GOP Delegates Strongly Back Bush

CBS/NYT Poll Finds That Delegates View Of President Sharply Different Than Most Americans, Forcing McCain Into Balancing Act

(CBS)  The vast majority of delegates to the Republican National Convention approve of the job George W. Bush has done as president, putting them at odds with most American people and forcing soon-to-be Republican presidential nominee John McCain into a balancing act as he looks to fire up delegates in St. Paul while also courting a nationwide audience.

A CBS News/New York Times survey released on the cusp of the Republican National Convention found that nearly 80 percent of Republican delegates approve of Mr. Bush’s performance as president, an approval rating more than 50 percentage points higher than his approval rating among all Americans, which stands at 28 percent. (Mr. Bush’s approval rating among Republicans overall is 63 percent.)

Delegates may understand if McCain distances himself from Mr. Bush during the convention: Forty-four percent acknowledge that it would not help the presumptive Republican nominee were Mr. Bush to campaign on his behalf in their state. Nearly half say that the Bush presidency has weakened the Republican Party.

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Read The Complete Polls
Who Are The RNC Delegates?
McCain and Bush
Views On The Issues

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Despite Mr. Bush’s high approval rating among delegates, they are not uniformly enthusiastic about the president. While 40 percent strongly approve of the job he’s done, 39 percent somewhat approve.

Bush’s biggest backers among the delegates are evangelicals and conservatives. By contrast, only 21 percent of moderates, a group that comprises one-quarter of delegates, strongly approving of the president’s performance.

Nearly 40 percent of delegates want McCain’s administration to be more conservative than Mr. Bush’s should he become president. Fourteen percent would prefer that McCain be less conservative. (Thirty-five percent say they aren’t sure.)

Forty-three percent say they aren’t sure what, exactly, a McCain presidency would bring. Just over half the delegates describe McCain as moderate, while 42 percent call him conservative.

Far and away, McCain’s experience is seen by these delegates as his greatest strength - 36 percent volunteer it. (The opposite - inexperience - was cited most by Democratic delegates as Barack Obama's weakness.)

National security and foreign policy (18 percent), honesty (11 percent), and leadership (10 percent) are also offered by delegates as McCain’s strengths.

McCain’s age tops the list of weaknesses - it was volunteered by 19 percent of Republican delegates. Being too moderate or not conservative enough is a distant second at 8 percent, followed by not being a good speaker or communicator at 6 percent. Seventeen percent say McCain doesn’t have any weaknesses as a candidate.

Seventy-four percent of delegates are confident that McCain will win the election in November.

Who They Are:

The Republican delegation is a pretty homogeneous group: 93 percent of the Republican delegates are white. Five percent are Hispanic, and two percent are African American. (The Democratic delegation is much more diverse: it is 23 percent African American and 11 percent Hispanic.)

While the Democratic delegation is split roughly evenly between men and women, roughly two-thirds of the Republican delegation is male. Thirty-two percent of the Republican delegates are women, down from 43 percent in 2004. The average age of Republicans delegates is 54.

About a third of Republican delegates are white evangelicals, and 43 percent describe themselves as regular churchgoers.

Thirty-four percent say their net worth is over $1 million. (Twenty-two percent of the Democratic delegation has a net worth that high.) Seventeen percent say their net worth is between $500,000 and $1 million, while 32 percent estimate their net worth under $500,000.

Six in 10 of the Republican delegates have a firearm in their household, and one quarter of are members of the NRA. Only 3 percent of Democratic delegates are NRA members.

Just five percent of Republican delegates are union members. Twenty-three percent have served in the Armed Forces, and 24 percent say they considered themselves Democrats at one point.

[cattlekate]

Poll: GOP Delegates Strongly Back Bush

Why?

[jmurrieta1]

"The vast majority of delegates to the Republican National Convention approve of the job George W. Bush has done as president"


Of course, the rest have been forced to retire by Cheney!

There''s nothing funnier than listening to Republicans talk about freedom, then realizing how they all walk around with their noses up Bushit''s or McClone''s a$$. Suckie suckie, repugs!

[victor0803]

You forgot to include that more than 53% of rep are backing Obama. Why??????????

[edward1975-2009]

cattlekate: The same reason Dumbocrats would say Pelosi and crew have done a great job in Congress. They are all idiots. Which is indicative of the state of America today. Neither party is concerned about what Americans want or need, and they haven''t been for decades.

[PulSamsara]

Keep Backing Bush ! Yeay !
Bush = McCain

America will not reward complete GOP failure.

[heuristic1]

The Republicans are about as debased as a political party can become, without toppling into the world of cockroaches, bed bugs and other such vermin. Sarah Palin%u2019s choice as VP pick is just the latest outrage. She%u2019s just another noisy little maggot the Repukes are coddling. God help us all if we don%u2019t throw this trash out of office in the upcoming election.

[collis12]

This poll proves that the Republican Party and most Republicans are far and away not in touch with their fellow Americans. How can anyone who sees the suffering of so many not understand that Bush has failed miserably. How can they see Bush borrow ten million dollars a month from the Chinese to fight the war in Iraq, while Irag sits on a 79 billion dollar surplus from the oil they sell, that we protect, and that they refuse or Bush is afraid to ask them to share with us. How can one see Americans suffering under the weight of economic disaster and the high price of everything and not see that Bush and Cheney are the worst things to happen to the United States since slavery, the great depression and WWI and WWII. The plight of returning veterans is another example of their failure. The suffering of the citizens of New Orleans after Katrina. The list goes on and on and on. I am just flabergasted!!!!

[jbright9]

I find it terrifying that Republican delegatese can not admit to the mistakes of the past eight years. Have they learned nothing.

God help us!

[benighse]

ARE YOU SURE THEY HAVEN''T MOVED THE ASYLUM HOSPITAL IN ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO''S NEST FROM SALEM TO THE TWIN CITIES FOR THE TWIN MCCAIN/BUSH BOYS????

[collis12]

I forgot to mention that Bush and Cheney are together the most divisive pair of political puppets this country has ever seen. Cheney is an out right liar. He knew on several occasions that the information he was espousing to support the invasion of Iraq was false and he continued to announce it publicly. Have the republicans who support Bush and Cheney not heard of honesty and accountability. Is it okay with them for the President to support the Vice President even when he knows the VP is lying. If he didn''t know that Cheney was lying that goes to show how out of touch and out of charge he was and has been as President. Furthermore, how could either of them sleep at night knowing that they have cost the lives of over 4000 Americans? How could any of the Republicans who think these guys did a good job reconcile the loss of those lives based on a lie and say to the parents, children, wives and siblings of the lost veterans that this President has done a good job. That kind of polling data is what makes other countries not glad to be our ally, it is the kind of data that makes others fearful. Wherever you go in the world everybody knows that this President is a failure. If he wanted to go to war so bad why didn''t he go to war in Darfur and stop the blatant genocide. Their would have been no need for Cheney to lie and he would have had the support of all civilized nations.

[collis12]

Oh I forgot the people in Darfur and the people in Rwanda were and are black, and good republicans don''t waste money, or lives on black people. That would make them less than evangelical conservatives, that would make them human.

[racam_us]

Remember, Republicans are like sheep, they are easily led astray. I''m sorry for comparing Sheep to republicans because I like sheep. These people don''t deserve to be at the convention because they have apposing views to that of the people they have sworn to represent. Excuse me again for using the word sworn in context with republican delegates, they don''t comprehend swearing about anything. They usually swear and then swear again that they don''t recall.

[veteran188]

Of course they like Bush, they don''t believe in evolution, they don''t believe in veterans benefits,
they don''t believe the wealthy should pay their fair share of the tax burden, they think we all should pray at the alter of their God, and that THEIR God only works for THEM. In fact for a greed driven conservative republicon there is really nothing else to believe in, but the McSame/McBush ticket!

Obama is our only hope

[iphyt4u]

Listening to your phone calls, reading your emails, and stacking the Justice department gives republicans a lot of jobs, government jobs. Vote for change. Vote Democrat. Vote for Obama and Biden!

[dronemonk]

Arrogant elitists with a penchant for knee jerk hero worship. Reminds of the apparatchiks of the Soviet Union. That is what the Republican Party has come to. For shame!

[hermitdave]

This crazy bunch of Christians might get their prayer answered. Crusader George might just start his Iran crusade, or we might see a October surprise bigger than 9/11, forcing them to cancel the election. The Neo Cons can not take a chance of loosing power. Of course they might just election fraud McCain in like the did George in 2000 and 2004.

[hermitdave]

This crazy bunch of Christians might get their prayer answered. Crusader George might just start his Iran crusade, or we might see a October surprise bigger than 9/11, forcing them to cancel the election. The Neo Cons can not take a chance of loosing power. Of course they might just election fraud McCain in like the did George in 2000 and 2004.

[timdgrim]

Nearly 40 percent of delegates want McCain%u2019s administration to be more conservative than Mr. Bush%u2019s should he become president
*************
Would that mean we would have to starting wearing those knee high storm trooper boots and that swastika arm band and raising our right hand at a 45 degree angle if this 40% gets their way?
I say N E A R (Never Elect Another Republican)

[david1737]

The Republicans talk about values and defend torture.

The Republicans outed a CIA Operative, which is treason.

McCain chose Phil Gramm as the vice chair of his campaign, and called him his "economic Guru."

Phil Gramm is Instrumental in causing the subprime debacle (if you have any doubts google Phil Gramm subprime, while you''re at it google Wendy Gramm Enron scandal as well.)

Bottom line the vast majority of Americans believe that our country is going in the wrong direction and the Republican Party still is too arrogant to get it!

[kansas1946]

(CBS) The vast majority of delegates to the Republican National Convention approve of the job George W. Bush has done as president.
*******************************************
Good Lord. Where did all of these delegates come from??? The backwoods in Applalacia? How could ANYONE approve the the job that GWB has done. Anyone that can read and has electricity that is. Unbelievable.

[veteran188]

RepubliCON''s are the new NAZIs,

the new FASCISTs there is no doubt about it

and McCain Is McBush ,= McSAME

[michael0004]

"The vast majority of delegates to the Republican National Convention approve of the job George W. Bush has done as president"

Proof postive that ignorance has no limits.

[shoebox119]

I love it. All the GOP delegates walk lockstep in line with Doofus. yet McCain MUST separate himself from this president who continues to suffer with poll ratings at or near historic lows.

Well, Gramps, what you gonna do now? Can''t support him yet you can''t distance yourself from hime either. I know, ask Barbie...she''ll know what to do. LOL

[idnnsg]

"GOP Delegates Strongly Back Bush"

Proof positive that they''re all certifiable!

[haoli25]

''Turn out the lights, the party''s over.......''

[notfooledtx]

That explains a lot. Consider it a cautionary warning for november. I don''t think the majority of americans share their sentiments.

Republicans are good at campaigning, it''s that darned governing that really trips them up. But gop voters are not only low info but low intelligence voters - how else do you explain their admiration of President Albatross and his election and reelection? You can''t claim intelligence and support for bush...it just doesn''t fit.

[missingamerica]

"The vast majority of delegates to the Republican National Convention approve of the job George W. Bush has done as president, putting them at odds with most American people..."

I do not know who could say it or how it could be said any better - the Republicans simply do not and are incapable of representing the majority, as is the primary goal in a democracy.

(Which, no doubt, will quickly yield me comments to the effect that "America is not a democracy - it is a Republic!".

lollll....)

[soldat44]

RepubliCON''''s are the new NAZIs,

the new FASCISTs there is no doubt about it

and McCain Is McBush ,= McSAME

Posted by veteran188 at 09:06 PM : Aug 31, 2008

I''d rather be a Fascist than a Pro-Abortion/Anti-Family/Pro-Gay Marriage/Anti-Religion COMMUNIST!

[beader59]

Can we say who cares. Bush is an idiot and the worse President to ever ungrace the U.S. If the delegates want to say now that they support him, well isn''t that special. These are the same idiots that voted him in twice and are responsible for the mess we are all in. Thanks a bunch!

[messiahx4eve]

soldat44, you are being redundant to the point of obscuring yourself. Are you the type that believes rights are a good thing as long as YOU approve of them first? YOUR way or the highway? For years people have used the word COMMUNISM in the sense that it is evil, its not. Take a few moments to learn how it works and why its called COMMUNISM. You just might learn something. Remember when the word gay meant you were happy? If you get the time, read a book called, "Natural Right and History" by Leo Strauss, it will help you get a MUCH firmer grip on reality.

[missingamerica]

lollll...you HAVE to click on the link CBS has to a PDF file above - the one that says "Who are the RNC delegates?"...

It is at http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/RNCDelegates_who_are_they.pdf if you can''t find the little pic of the PDF file...

Of course, the contents are fairly predictable, with one exception:

[bq]
23% of Republican delegates have served in the armed forces, compared to 14% in the Democratic delegation who are veterans.
[eq]

Somewhat surprising, given all of the famous Republican chickenhawks.

I really wish that portion also included if they were active duty (or chickenhawks, like Bush) and also whether they were officers or enlisted, and whether they had served any duty abroad and if so in what theater.

[coco0331]

Bought and payed for with your money in the interest of special interest. Everything the republican party does is in the interest of special interest at a cost to the average American tax payer. They will say and do anything to the benefit of their party. They speak no truth and their favorite people are naive and easily influenced. They resemble the communist party and are responsible for the condition of our national debt and failing economy. Their most powerful weapon is propaganda and rhetoric which they pay billions of your tax dollars to control the media with. George Bush Jr. and his administration past and present must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the constitution.

[pragmatista]

Too bad Bush and Cheney aren''t going to attend the RNC Convention. I was hoping that they were going to explain to the American people what they have actually accomplished during the last 8 years. Enquiring minds would like to know, what all of these delegates are so pleased about the Bush-Cheney legacy. They have some explaining to do if McCain-Palin want my vote. I am sure McCain-Palin breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that Gustav could give Bush and Cheney the excuse they needed to duck out. Condoleeza will probably duck out too and will go shoe shopping again while this Katrina-like storm is beating the *** out of Louisiana and Texas.

[puldr]

Not only does McCain ''not get it'' but also the Republican party delegates! Obviously these are people who are not in touch with our country and where it''s gone in the past eight years!!

[tawpdawg111]

How would you like to be in charge of which neocon would follow which neocon up to the mic. What will they say? SORRY what we done to ya. Now vote for more of it?

[hbevis]

It is amazing how much ranting and raving I see on these post. More that likely most of them are bleeding heart liberals....

Some could be dissatisfied Republicans??

We need to get our act together and get our nation out of the mess that we are in. In two wars at once and maybe another one or two in the background. We need a strong man in the White House and I don''t know if either one can make a passing grade. One is old but still out there making a show the other to young and to inexperienced.

Gonna be a close call................

[tawpdawg111]

Speakers to delegates and rest of country:

" We realize what a fiasco our rule has been for 7 1/2 years but if yall will just give us four more we know how to fix it."

Dittoheads:

"Duhhhhhhhhhhh............gee......OK! It can''t get no worster."

[jerr11]

Strongly back Bush.

No big surprise there.

These GOP delegates put party above country.

$3 trillion squamdered in Iraq, the GOP is now the Borrow and Spend Party!

[n8929u]

Congress runs this country and we have the best congress the corporations and oil companies can buy. Pass term limits to make it more difficult for the money and lobbys to influence congress. Of course this is impossible because Congress won/t pass term limits.;

[ivandrago]

This Gustav storm sucks. I was looking forward to that room full of out of touch Republican delegates giving Bush and Cheney a standing ovation. This storm has robbed the Dems from a wonderful PR moment. There is no greater advocate for Obama than the onstage presense of the administration.

[docadams3]

Maybe these are the Republican Guard "dead enders" that Rumsfeld was talking about.

Seems like there was more Kool aid than we thought.

[heuristic1]

I hope it isn%u2019t even a close. I want this election to represent an overwhelming repudiation of the last eight years of Republican misrule. I want the Republicans swept out of power and OUT of history for the next fifty years or so. Send them all into exile in the hottest, most remote desert on earth.

[david1737]

Excerpt from article above:

"Delegates may understand if McCain distances himself from Mr. Bush during the convention..."

"...Nearly half say that the Bush presidency has weakened the Republican Party."

Loooseeeers.

[david1737]

McCain doesn''t know how to use e-mail.

[demwatcher]

"McCain doesn''''t know how to use e-mail.

Posted by david1737 at 01:24 AM : Sep 01, 2008"

So what? Do you know how to fly a fighter jet?

[demwatcher]

"Strongly back Bush.

No big surprise there.

These GOP delegates put party above country.

$3 trillion squamdered in Iraq, the GOP is now the Borrow and Spend Party!


Posted by jerr11 at 12:19 AM : Sep 01, 2008"

What a laugh! Did you have a straight face when you wrote that? You''ve got Obama who has ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE to be the president, yet you blindly follow him.

Talk about putting the party before the country!

Do you even REALIZE how hypocritical you sound?

[occams_taser]

OUT. OF. TOUCH. GOP. KOOKS. RUN. AMOK.

[tapsettle]

Why is it that poll after poll seems to prove that at least half of the american people are stupid and care nothing for other people? How can any intelligent considerate human being still support someone that has been so descredited, murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent civillians, tortured countless more, has put the US in the top 5 of western countries for human rights abuse, cries out for respect of territorial integrity whilst ignoring it himself, and whose double standards make the US the laughing stock of the real world?

[missingamerica]

What a laugh! Did you have a straight face when you wrote that? You''ve got Obama who has ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE to be the president, yet you blindly follow him.

Talk about putting the party before the country!

Do you even REALIZE how hypocritical you sound?

Posted by DemWatcher at 01:51 AM : Sep 01, 2008

Perhaps you cannot see the forest for the trees...

The issue is that the Republicans have a recent track record that ranks them up there with Pearl Harbor in 1941 and 9/11 in 2001 for being among the worst thing that has happened to America over the last century (awesome, huh? ya''ll should be proud...).

So the Democrats - in fact, all of America - are not in fact putting "putting the party before the country", we are attempting to put the country before the Republican Party...

Because we know they won''t.

They can''t - they''re not only too greedy, they think their greed is a "good thing".

Can you say morally bankrupt?

[tapsettle]

Do you even REALIZE how hypocritical you sound?
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Posted by DemWatcher

How does ''You must respect the sovereign territory of another country'' sound? Pretty hypocritical? Invade two on packs of lies, stay there for years on different lies, then cry foul when a country you dont like does it for good reason? Bush et al. are the King Hypocrits of the modern world. Their followers have NO right to call anyone hypocritical with their track record.