Poll: Bush Jr. gets thrashed by Poppy, Gore, Kerry

Bush Jr. would get thrashed by more than a 3-to-1 margin in a theoretical match-up between father and son, according to a Scripps Howard poll. He wouldn't beat Gore or Kerry, which he really didn't do.

I'm still not sure why Reagan and Kennedy are that well-liked and won by so much in these polls. Kennedy is more for his promise and vision - he was only in office less than three years. Reagan did little but give speeches and joke about bombing the former Soviet Union - he had to be forced to deal with the soviets.

Clinton comes off well in this poll, and that's interesting......He was the last elected president, after all.

The story and poll results are here.

•  More analysis please...

  If you're going to go to the trouble of writing a diary.

  by Preston on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 02:41:06 PM PDT

  •  True but sometimes

    you don't have much time to write much and you have to pick up kids and don't have a computer at home anymore because your apartment manager refused to fix your phone lines and you just have time to jot off something at work on the comp there as you rush out. That's how life works sometimes.

    by jacksonthor on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:46:48 PM PDT

    •  That's what open threads are for.

      by Preston on Wed Aug 16, 2006 at 11:03:15 AM PDT

•  I wonder if W literally got thrashed by Poppy.

  If so, it explains a lot. If not, why not? Poppy and Babs deserve to roast in hell merely for engendering that smirking clown we call our God-Emperor.

  by Champurrado on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 02:42:55 PM PDT

  •  I don't call or consider him 'God or Emperor'.,

    He's merely a dim-witted frat boy who has been occupying the White House.

    by irate on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 02:45:06 PM PDT

  •  They do this poll right around every election

    and it is in an odd way a "win" for Junior because it reminds people that they are closely related.  It also probably means that Daddy is soon to be out on the campaign trail for GOP candidates.

    by inclusiveheart on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 02:49:21 PM PDT

    •  not this time

      he threw his dad under the bus when Tony Snow announced at a press conference that winning the war on terror means not stopping at the border. A dig at Bush 41 not entering Bagdhad.

      by SensibleDemocrat on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 03:30:41 PM PDT

      •  No - they are relying on no one remembering

        Daddy or Reagan in Beirut.  When and if they really get busted for it on the national stage, the Office of Lessons Learned will talk about "lessons learned".  Daddy might even say he made a mistake.  What does it matter to them anyway?  They are not wed to telling the truth.  They know Americans are ridiculously ignorant and forgetful.  They make their reality every day and this foray into rationalization is just the begining.

        Don't forget that Daddy came out hard against leaks about CIA agents - not even the slightest ripple in the polls.  They are still the superior public relations machine.  They are adaptable and they are excellent at making the best out of a bad situation.  Democrats are still clear losers in the game of publicity.  The only hope we really have is that Americans are just sick and tired of being sick and tired regardless of the GOP's spin and the Dems' failure to really go for it.  The other thing is that if we win this Fall and continue to underperform in this arena, we will have a very difficult '08.

        by inclusiveheart on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 03:50:57 PM PDT

        •  what i meant was

          don't count on bush 43 campaigning hard for GWB as he threw him under a bus.

          by SensibleDemocrat on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:02:16 PM PDT

          •  Barbara will do anything for George Jr.

            George Sr. does what Barbara tells him to do.  Family dynamic is important and not incidently the profit they all benefit from while Jr. keeps his power.  We are talking Haliburton stock and Neil Bush's profiteering from NCLB.  It is a criminal family.

            by inclusiveheart on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:10:20 PM PDT

            •  Sure is, and it is a family

              that has a lot of skeletons in the closet, some literally. Look at how the lawsuit filed by Margie Schoedinger against Bush in 2002 was handled....

              by jacksonthor on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:49:16 PM PDT

              •  Nothing has stopped them.

                Not even war profiteering duting WWII.

                They are bold and successful.  George Sr. sleeps around btw, but no one ever challenged him.

                by inclusiveheart on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:58:10 PM PDT

  •  I believe it was the other way

    A rumor I vaguely remember is, sometime in the 80's, Dubya threw a fit and was ready to thrash his old man physically, but Barbara intervened and he was banned from Sr's house. I could be wrong....

    by whenwego on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 03:00:17 PM PDT

    •  As I recall,

      W was seriously drunk and challenged Poppy to a fight.

      by Yosef 52 on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 03:06:17 PM PDT

      •  Tumbler

        While his dad was president the secret service's nickname for GWB was "tumbler."  Meaning, he always had a cocktail in his hand.  He was also severely affected by his Dad's loss because his Dad didn't cowtow to the rightwing neocons.  This facilitated the perfect storm of suedo-personal growth.  Quit drinking, without treatment, become born again, and make himself the new puppet for the right wing neocons.  He's not smart but he's clever.

        by astoundedstill on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:06:32 PM PDT

        •  And hook yourself up to Rove....

          That's how he won so many times - it was rove's doing.

          by jacksonthor on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:50:19 PM PDT

        •  Wasn't he supposed to be off booze by then?

          by Yosef 52 on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 07:25:33 PM PDT

  •  Neo-Cons believe in strict father morality

    So when Bush Jr. was young, Sr. paddled Jr's ass for bad behavior. The violence against Jr doesn't seem to have worked because Jr lies, cheats and steals. On top of that, he wants violence everywhere.

    by BlueTide on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 03:09:11 PM PDT

    •  Actually

      According to an interview with his parents, there technique more about, ignoring him then corporal punishment.

      by astoundedstill on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:08:09 PM PDT

  •  Now that's an abortion Babs should have had.

    by abbeysbooks on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:13:17 PM PDT

•  Bush also less popular

  than Pikachu, Olive Oyl, Lucifer, NAMBLA, Ebola virus,  syrup of Ipecac, toenail fungus, painful rectal itch.

  by melvin on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 02:46:51 PM PDT

  •  Ah... Painful rectal itch.

    I know painful rectal itch. I've worked with painful rectal itch. You, Mr. Bush, are no painful rectal itch.

    by EKO on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 03:52:00 PM PDT

•  Meh

  Like shooting fish in a barrel.  I think Nixon, violator of the Constitution and all-around sneaky bastard, is more popular than Bush.

  by DH from MD on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 02:49:22 PM PDT

  •  Sneaker but smarter

    If I had to choose between Nixon and Bush Jr., at least Nixon knew what he was doing.  I will take smart and sneaky over dumb and crooked any day.  Both bad choices, but at least one has a little thought behind it.

    by gweisberger on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:04:03 PM PDT

    •  No doubt

      Nixon was smarter!

      by astoundedstill on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:10:18 PM PDT

•  Fun Question: WJC vs HRC

  And how would you vote if the race was between Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton?

  Bill Clinton .................... 53

  Hillary Clinton ................. 24

  Don't Know/Other Response ....... 23

  by NeuvoLiberal on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 02:50:19 PM PDT

•  McGovern Beats Nixon!!!

  Guess all those talking-point robots who think they're so friggin' cute w/the comparison might want to think twice now!!!  Hah!!

  Also...Kennedy whups Reagan..ya gotta love it!

  I think this poll bodes very well for our chances this November...a longing for Dems, Moderates, and people w/good sense!!!

  by serrano on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 02:54:17 PM PDT

  •  I was going to say that

    And Nader still getting 7% in 2004 and (likely) 2000 matchtups?

    What's up with that?

    by NeuvoLiberal on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 02:55:28 PM PDT

  •  It is encouraging

    if you look at how well Bill Clinton did vs. W. Bush Jr. I'm surprised Clinton won by the margin he did against Bush Sr. in the 1992 poll.

    by jacksonthor on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:51:56 PM PDT

•  Friendly advice

  If you want to link to a legitimate news item -- which this may well be -- find a different source that Capitol Hill Blue.

  by Elwood Dowd on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 03:08:56 PM PDT

  •  but...

    wayne madsen wasn't running the story!

    by jmonch on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 04:39:54 PM PDT

•  I want to see the results of Bill Clinton vs. GWB

  by SensibleDemocrat on Mon Aug 14, 2006 at 03:31:42 PM PDT