Democracy Has Prevailed.

May 19, 2005

Free Falling Republicans

1. Latest NBC/WSJ poll reveals "angry electorate"

- 52% of the country believes that the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 35 who think it's great.

- Just 33 percent of the respondents approve of Congress' job (down 6 points since a poll in April and 8 points since January).

- By 47 percent to 40 percent the public says it would prefer Democrats controlling Congress after the 2006 elections.

-Just 34 percent say the Senate should generally confirm the president's judicial picks as long as they are honest and competent, while 56 percent argue that the Senate should make its own decision about the fitness of each nominee to serve.

- Just 20% of those polled say the economy has gotten better over the past 12 months, an 11% decline since January.

- 51% believe that removing Saddam Hussein from power was not worth the cost and casualties of that war.

- Only 36% support Bush's plan to allow workers to invest their Social Security contributions in the stock market.


2. Bush's approval rating at 43% according to Pew Research

- A survey by Pew Research taken from May 11 to May 15 put Mr. Bush's overall approval rating at 43 per cent.

- Republican leadership in congress at approval rating at 35 per cent.


3. Even FOX News Ratings in Free Fall according to TV Newser

- Ratings for the cable news channel have been plummeting since before the November election.

- According to TV Newser, the number of people watching Fox during prime time in the 25 to 54 age bracket dropped in April for the sixth straight month.

- Totals for Fox's primetime audience in the 25 to 54 age bracket: Oct. 04: 1,074,000; Nov. 04: 891,000; Dec. 04: 568,000; Jan. 05: 564,000; Feb. 05: 520,000; March 05: 498,000; April 05: 445,000. That amounts to a decline of 58 percent, with no sign of leveling off.

- Other cable stations' ratings were also down since the election, but CNN's, for example, appeared to have stabilized last month while Fox's continued to drop.

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