Just 45% of Voters 'Very Confident' Bush Won Election Fair and Square
By Michael Collins on 9/27/2006, 9:20am PT  

Guest blogged by Michael Collins

Part Two of a Two-Part Series (Part One published here, blogged here)

Based on an article published by "SCOOP" Independent News
Washington, DC

At their lowest points of popularity, do you recall anyone who claimed that Presidents Carter and Nixon stole their elections or that they didn’t win fair and square? Did any analysts or activist groups claim massive election fraud in the elections that brought these ultimately very unpopular presidents to office?

How confident are you that George Bush really won the 2004 presidential election? If you are a typical American voter and you have doubts, how did those doubts arise? A mid-August Zogby Poll of 1018 likely voters answered the first of these two very important questions. (The author was a contributing sponsor for the survey.)

How confident are you that George W. Bush really won the 2004 presidential election?
Very confident that Bush won fair and square 45.2%
Somewhat confident that Bush won fair and square 20.0
Not at all confident that he won fair and square 32.4
Other/not sure 2.4


This is a remarkable result. Nearly two years into the second term of his presidency, less than half of those polled think that the 2004 election victory was fair and square. 20% say they are somewhat confident, which is hardly an endorsement of legitimacy. Webster’s defines somewhat as follows: "in some degree or measure: SLIGHTLY". This does not exactly qualify as an endorsement of a critical democratic process. The 32% who are not at all confident represent a major portion of the population holding the belief that Bush failed to win without cheating. Combining not at all confident with somewhat slightly, according to Webster’s, produces a category of 52% who doubt the legitimacy of the election. Altogether, these results are a clear vote of no confidence.

Confidence or Doubts

Combining not confident at all and somewhat (in some degree or measure: SLIGHTLY) produces a category of Doubts. This gives a clear picture on legitimacy versus illegitimacy issue.

Survey Excel file available here

What does this mean? Some preliminary thoughts.

This survey elaborates another Zogby Poll conducted in Pennsylvania and sponsored by OpEdNews.com. In that survey, 39% of Pennsylvania residents indicated that they thought that 2004 Presidential election was stolen. In the current survey, a middle category was created to capture those with doubts, only somewhat confident that Bush won fair and square. By creating that category in this national poll of likely voters, those who doubt legitimacy increased 13 percentage points to 52% while those likely to share the sentiment that 2004 was stolen, dropped from the Pennsylvania 39% to the national sample of 32%.

At this point, the Bush Presidency is an illegitimate one, lacking in the necessary consensus to rule with any degree of confidence by the people. We have entered the Potemkin Village of democracy where the façade of legitimacy is nothing more than a Hollywood back lot. This is the inescapable conclusion from this poll of likely voters.

Confident or Doubts:  Where they live.

The location of likely voters with confidence or doubts regarding the 2004 Presidential election.

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So goes a portion of the argument. I have a few questions:

1) Why am I adding this question to Paul Lehto's survey? Don't get me wrong, I was glad to do so and Paul is a pleasure to work with, but why him? Why me? Why us? Do we have a total absence of reporters willing to ask these questions and write about them? Apparently so.

2) Why are the Democrats hopping on the election fraud band wagon so quickly? Dodd co-sponsoring a rescue bill is remarkable. He was the co-sponsor of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (along with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY and the Democrat form the House, Stenny Hoyer, D-MD)? It must be really awful when there are heroics like this. I have no inside track, do you?

3) Back to the focus of this article and blog, how much more can the United States of America take of the Whte House and the trouble causers that they employ? We are reeling internationally, there is no consensus for real government here, and the complicity of the ruling party with the perpetrators offers a non-stop display of lock-step loyalty.

We've had enough. It's time for those who lack legitimacy to recognize that and leave. We cannot afford any more deception and suffering. The legacy we will bear is already heavy enough.

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