Calling all Conservatives...

[Insidious Rex]

Well I’ve moved this from the “Soldiers horrifically abuse Iraqis” thread so it doesn’t get swamped by the pace of that thread (and at the suggestion of others). Here it is all nice and spell checked now :

To the Republican/Bush supporters out there I have a genuinely serious question. How has the past month or so (the prison scandal and the reaction of the pres and Rummsfield and company, the Berg killing, the various other things that have been going on in Iraq) affected your concern over how the current administration is handling affairs:

1. It’s only strengthened my opinion that Bush is handling things the right way and well.
2. It hasn’t affected my opinion one way or another.
3. My opinion on how the administration is handling this has taken a hit but by no means am I going to bail out on them let alone even condemn it.
4. I’ve had some serious second thoughts on things recently. But I’m not quite sure if it’s gone so far as to change my point of view fundamentally.
5. I’ve grown seriously cynical on the whole affair and horribly disappointed. I don’t think the current administration really has control over the situation as I used to. And perhaps I’m even thinking about not voting for Bush or at least not voting at all.
6. I’m so affected by this that I have decided to change my vote.

Just genuinely curious. No agendas to make here. No tricks. Just wondering how it’s affected those who have been supporters of the current administration. And if none of those choices quite do the trick then feel free to alter the one most closely along the lines of your own. Or say "I’m between 3 and 4" or something like that.

Val if you want to just cut and paste what you already said in the other thread that’s cool. I didn’t want to do it for you in case you wanted to elaborate further on this now. And note the question itself is really for current or former administration supporters but the thread is open to anyone that has a comment based on the opinions themselves.

I guess what I’m trying to figure out is has the drop we’ve seen in the polls recently for Bush tied directly to this episode and does it include former bush supporters who no longer support him or is it more middle of the road types or previously undetermined voters who have now been affected enough to be actively against the practices of the current administration. So there’s the standard full disclosure. Fire away.

[Valandil]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
To the Republican/Bush supporters out there I have a genuinely serious question. How has the past month or so (the prison scandal and the reaction of the pres and Rumsfeld and company, the Berg killing, the various other things that have been going on in Iraq) affected your concern over how the current administration is handling affairs:

As I said, I'm closest to a 4...

4. I’ve had some serious second thoughts on things recently. But I’m not quite sure if it’s gone so far as to change my point of view fundamentally.

And I italicized the one spelling mistake I still saw.

[hectorberlioz]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
To the Republican/Bush supporters out there I have a genuinely serious question. How has the past month or so (the prison scandal and the reaction of the press and Rumsfeld and company, the Berg killing, the various other things that have been going on in Iraq) affected your concern over how the current administration is handling affairs:

And I italicized the spelling error I saw.

Yes, no.4 is what I'll go with.

[Insidious Rex]

actually thats "pres" short for "president" you nit pickers. I forget the little period. And who cares how rumsfeld spells his name. If its a proper name I go by the policy that sounding like it is close enough. Im sure Mr. Tolkeen would agree.

[jerseydevil]

I go with number 2 as I said in the iraq thread. War is hell - things go good, things go bad. Not everything is forseeable. If the administration was not changing tactics with the changing situations - then I would have a problem - but they do change and adapt. World War II, World War I, the Revolution - not even the Civil War was a sure thing. They had their ups and downs and this is no different. It has only been one year and it is a LONG process - it wasn't going to be easy and it's not going to be easy. If we stick with it - carry on and don't lose sight of the goal - we will suceed.

[Insidious Rex]

Could it be (is it possible) that the necessary next step in the process may involve a change in power not to an ultra left wing candidate but to a moderate war experienced democrat like Kerry who will suddenly engander such relief (and hopefully cooperation) from so many other countries in the world that he could start the next step of bringing others into the fold in ways that Bush simply cant do.

I guess what Im saying is, is it possible that we needed BOTH Bush AND someone else in this highly complex struggle against an amorphous invisible enemy. Or is it your opinion that only a strong hawkish conservative could see this thing through to the end.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
Could it be (is it possible) that the necessary next step in the process may involve a change in power not to an ultra left wing candidate but to a moderate war experienced democrat like Kerry who will suddenly engander such relief (and hopefully cooperation) from so many other countries in the world that he could start the next step of bringing others into the fold in ways that Bush simply cant do.

I guess what Im saying is, is it possible that we needed BOTH Bush AND someone else in this highly complex struggle against an amorphous invisible enemy. Or is it your opinion that only a strong hawkish conservative could see this thing through to the end.

I don't think the rest of the world really wants to help - except under their terms. Powell had talked to France, Russia, Germany - had even come back with France with a verbal guarantee that there would be only the ONE remaining resolution. if they did not work - they were not going to stand in the way of US action. Instead they did and went back on their word.

I do think that Bush is the best person to handle this. I do not think that kerry can do anything to bring France, Germany and Russia or anyone else in to help - because they simply don't want to - unless they are the one's calling the shots. I'm not trusting OUR personal security to Europe or any other country or world organization.

Also - contrary to your statement - it wasn't only the US that went into Iraq - there are many countries all playing various roles.

[hectorberlioz]

I can tell that Kerry is a fakey because he seems to want exactly what the public wants...kindof a false link between the liberals and conservatives.
Whereas Bush does what he sees is best.
and you have to realize, you are not the president, so you're going to look at things differently than He. If you were in his position, you'd do alot of thinking that you didnt want to do!, and there is no way to please everybody.

[GrayMouser]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
and you have to realize, you are not the president, so you're going to look at things differently than He.

May He live forever.

(As long as we're being picky- or is that a typo? )

[Cirdan]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
I can tell that Kerry is a fakey because he seems to want exactly what the public wants...kindof a false link between the liberals and conservatives.
Whereas Bush does what he sees is best.

...and where did the term "compassionate conservatism" come from? Not a political campain slogan!!!

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Cirdan
...and where did the term "compassionate conservatism" come from? Not a political campain slogan!!!

There have been political slogans since the start of this country. That however does not mean that Bush isn't or didn't plan on doing things that he had promised in his campaign. Things changed on 9/11 that forever changed the way he could be president. If 9/11 didn't happen - he would have been a very different president. Any president in the office during 9/11 would have been different without that happening.

[Cirdan]

Right, but NOT a "fakey(sic) link between liberals and conservatives"???

[Hawklan]

ive been dissapointed with what was going on with the photographs etc. im not naive, bad things have to hapen in a war, play fair and you'll get beaten. bad things have to happen in a bad time, but the pix were out of order. both sides are doing their bit for worst side, if you see what i mean, the iraqis are no better with their attrocities and treatment of pow's. i still agree we had to go in there, but i think we could have handled the post war part a lot better

[Starr Polish]

Just because someone has war experience doesn't mean that would necessarily make them a good leader during war, but eh.

Even though I don't consider myself any political leaning anymore (I suppose I'm super-moderate), I would have to say 5.