The Unofficial PriusChat Bush Approval Rating Poll

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rudiger @ May 16 2006, 04:26 PM) [snapback]256472[/snapback]</div>

:lol:

I can actually do this TONIGHT! lol, I still have a bunch of Bush/Cheney '04 stickers somewhere....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rudiger @ May 16 2006, 04:26 PM) [snapback]256472[/snapback]</div>

Don't forget- there are as of today, I believe, about 14,500 Prius owners on this forum. And the 20 who answered this poll in the affirmative probably constitute the entire conservative contingent.

I actually think that it's a good thing that there are a few conservatives here (although I would prefer that a few of them take a Valium.) After all, they didn't buy a Prius to save the environment. They're not concerned about global warming. Some of them actually speak up loudly in defense of the oil companies- let them make as much money as they want! I haven't met very many techno-geeks that are conservative. So the Prius-driving conservatives must be doing it for one reason- they're cheap! And the one argument people use the most against buying a hybrid is that hybrids are expensive- you'll never recoup your investment through savings on what you pay for gas. Well, if these conservative guys are driving hybrids, that refutes that argument!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ May 16 2006, 05:13 PM) [snapback]256498[/snapback]</div>

No so. At least, not in my case... Only one reason I got a Prius. Well, actually, make that two:

1. The gas $ savings over my big 'ol F150 Lariat. I was spending anywhere from $3-$500/mo. on gas on that thing, and just kept on thinking about all the other more "useful" things I could do with that money. So, in comparison to my old monster truck, I saved a few thousand in about a year, and will easily recoup the costs, particularly if gas prices keep going up.

2. I really liked the way it looked. It's an odd car, IMO, and there was just something about it I liked. It's unique, unlike the billions of Honda Civics out there, it's almost an event when you come across another one.

I'll admit, the emissions/environment stuff was just a bonus, and not a driving force.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ May 16 2006, 07:40 AM) [snapback]256234[/snapback]</div>

Sorry, pal...hate to burst your bubble, but I lived in TX when Lt. Space Cadet was in charge. The guy's dumber than a box of hammers.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ May 16 2006, 05:13 PM) [snapback]256498[/snapback]</div>

I may be mistaken (and am most certainly not a republican -- just the thought makes me want to shower), but I think the common reason for right wingers to buy Prius is out of conviction that dependence on foreign oil is bad for America. That is certainly one area I can agree with them 100%.

And in one more blurring of political lines: I have NO problem with the oil companies jacking up the price of their product. I just wish that subsidy of fossil fuels would end, so that prices would skyrocket, and actually represent the real cost to our society.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BellBoy @ May 16 2006, 05:36 PM) [snapback]256505[/snapback]</div>

You are right- shrub has all the intellectual curiosity of a doorstop (this is a guy who not only doesn't read anything, but is proud of it), but daniel does have a point as well. The folksy, "aw shucks" persona is something that has been carefully cultivated by his handlers. The Crawford Ranch, again contrived to perpetrate this folksy image, was completed in 2000- on the day of the stolen election in 2000, in fact. Every time you see this guy, he's driving a pickup, watching his dog Barney chase an armadillo, wearing the cowboy hat, clearing brush- just the kind of guy you'd want to hang out with and knock down some Pabst Blue Ribbons, right? This is nothing but packaging. Bush is a guy who went to Andover, Yale, and Harvard; he was born in blue-blood Connecticut. Ironically, he has a very similar background to John Kerry. But people didn't like John Kerry- he's stuffy, uses big words, and goes on forever explaining the nuances to a simple question. Nor did they like Al Gore- they viewed him as a techo-geek and a bore. Just like nobody liked the kid who got straight A's and had to raise his hand every time the teacher asked a question. But everyone likes good ol' George- or at least they used to, before he totally screwed up the country.

So while I'd agree that Bush's I.Q. is- hell, he can't even spell I.Q.- there is also an element of truth in the assertion that this is a contrived image.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ May 15 2006, 07:50 PM) [snapback]256066[/snapback]</div>

Rove was correct. The poll in question is not a single-question one. Among other things (e.g., job rating) it asks people if they "personally" like the President. Bush still does OK with that one. Rove admitted, later in the interview, the low job approval rating, and even admitted that it's because the country's in what he called a "sour mood" because of Iraq. (He even said, "There's nothing we can do about that.") (???) Then he reiterated that most Americans think Bush is "a good guy".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ May 16 2006, 02:13 PM) [snapback]256498[/snapback]</div>

And about 100 of them actively participate. Anybody who has ever once registered a user name is a member forever. It would be interesting if Danny showed us the statistics for how many different users have posted in the past month and the past 6 months. Don't get me wrong: Prius Chat is a great site. But it's a joke to say there are 14,500 people "on this forum."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ May 15 2006, 09:01 AM) [snapback]255699[/snapback]</div>

I have a theory. You'd never believe, to listen to him, much less see what he does, that Bush had better college grades than Kerry. While no Towering Intellect, Bush can't be that dumb. But over the years I've noticed that two things that can seem to camouflage intelligence are 1) being an ideologocal zealot, and 2) being "born again" (yes, a variant of ideological zealotry).

Both seem to lessen curiosity and diminish attention to detail, and almost eliminate the ability to listen to the opinions of others. More, those disagreeing are seen as disloyal, or at least "suspect". Leadership---and solutions to problems---are very much "top-down" propositions, needing only trustworthy friends and the like-minded to carry out the dictates of ideologically-shaped solutions.

Such people may be as personable as anyone else---as long as there's no more than muted criticism. Then their wrath is swift and thorough, even excessive.

Not having to search diligently or creatively for answers due to the comfortable constraints of ideology obviously encourages intellectual laziness. Bush was probably honestly surprised at the icy reception his Social Security privatization scheme received. In many matters he seems completely out of touch with "real people" who suffer from not having the Received Wisdom he clearly has.

Nothing new in all this. Bush is the diametric opposite of everything I value in a leader. But he's not stupid.

 

Ok, first off to what people have been saying bad about Clinton, he did go into rawanda eventualy to lend aid, and the only reason we went into iraq was oil no wmds because places in europe the places that would have been under direct threat from the short range WMD's that iraq would have, and second we historicaly only do "good deads" as a country where there is a economic incentive for us to gain. starting with the revolutionary war and the civil war and WWII and bay of pigs countless other military dictator ships we have set up covertly(which usualy turn against us) and Desert Storm and Opperation Iraqi freedom. all of these wars were for economic reasons, and the 2 other wars were to stop the tide of comunism (and we all know how well those went ). but any way i ramble.
I am a proud Green party member, and am against virtualy everything bush stands for because almoast all of what he does is illeagle or wrong. an example of this is the patriot act which is in violation of the constitution, and also the illeagle wire tapping that has gone on under his administration, and also the rigging of the election that chad bs in Florida was a hoax to get bush ellectedl, his views on gay mariage are discriminatory which shows a clear lack of understanding of the meaning of seperation of church and state one of our countries founding principles. also another 2 things that astound me are his views on the invironment, driling in alaska.. bad bad move (trucks machinery etc in a fragile eco system = not good ), and him some how saying and truely believing that there is no such thing as globle warming, (huricanes down south any one ?).
and dont even get me started on the no child left behind crap.
just my thoughts