September 25, 2007
Dems Reaping Financial Benefits Of Anti-Bush Sentiment
Play it again, Eric.
Last week, The Gate reported that President Bush was looking increasingly lonely, both in Washington and on the world stage. Looks like you can add the campaign trail to the list of unwelcome places for the president, as well.
Bush's approval ratings have teetered a bit lately, but they're still in the low-to-mid 30s (and in some cases the 20s) according to most national polls. So it comes as no surprise when AP puts out an analytical piece headlined, "Bush Unwelcome on the Trail," even though the president called himself a "strong asset" to GOP candidates in a press conference last week.
Indeed, while the Republican presidential candidates (not counting a few lower-tier contrarians) are careful not to criticize Bush in front of GOP crowds, they are loathe to volunteer his name or heap praise on him unprovoked. They are far more likely to rail against the current leadership -- both in Washington and in the Republican Party -- and present themselves as agents of change, much like their Democratic counterparts have been trying to do.
But is it already too late? Bloomberg News reported last week that the Bush backlash may be hitting '08 Republicans where it hurts most: their pocketbooks.
"Dozens of corporate executives who backed President George W. Bush for re-election in 2004, including some of his top fund-raisers" and celebrity tycoons like Morgan Stanley's John Mack, News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch and Yahoo's Terry Semel, "are now helping Democrats running for president," claims the report, which is based on a review of Federal Election Commission records.
Bloomberg's Michael Janofsky notes that the business world is still overwhelmingly Republican, but "the stature of some of those donating to Democrats suggests that support may be eroding" as executives grow increasingly concerned "over Republican positions on issues ranging from the war in Iraq and stem-cell research to global warming and the fiscal deficit." That may explain Bush's recent sharp rhetoric on the budget and his warnings that the Democratic-led Congress will increase taxes.
But there's another, less partisan explanation for the shift: "Money tends to follow people who have power," explains Fred Wertheimer, president of campaign finance watchdog group Democracy 21.
After last year's Republican rout at the polls, news outlets began reporting that corporate donors were following the political trend leftward and shifting funds to more Democratic candidates. For now, that trend appears to be continuing (subscription) into the 2008 congressional election cycle as well.
Still, the jury doesn't appear to be completely out for President Bush or those who choose to affiliate themselves with him. A new American Research Group poll shows a 9-point boost in the president's overall job approval rating from two months ago, which appears to have been buoyed by his 80-percent support among the Republican base. And about seven in 10 GOP respondents said they approved of the way Bush is handling the issue nearest and dearest to the hearts of corporate donors: the economy.
Posted at 4:14 PM
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Campaigns, Democrats, President Bush, Republicans, WH 2008
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