USA Today has an article describing what I had suspected for some time — if Bush loses the Wall Street Journal, he loses a strong base of Republican support. Ever since the PATRIOT Act, I’ve not had a good feeling about Bush and I had suspected that others may have felt the same.
This week, there were signs that some of President Bush’s biggest boosters in the media are becoming disillusioned with his handling of Iraq. The Wall Street Journal, the country’s second-largest-circulation newspaper, took these two swipes at Bush:
On Monday, a long, critical story followed this Page 1 headline: “Early U.S. Decisions on Iraq Now Haunt American Efforts.”
On Tuesday, a WSJ editorial chided Bush’s June 30 Iraq transition plans with this subhead: “The U.S. drops the Iraqis who've been with us from the start.”
To paraphrase LBJ, if Bush loses the WSJ, he will not necessarily lose Middle America, but he might lose “Upperville.” The ultraconservative Wall Street Journal is a bible for upscale or rich, rock-ribbed Republicans. […]
Though I’m not sure I’d say that the WSJ is Republican “bible” — its main content isn’t usually political — I will concede that its editorial pages lean to the right a good portion of the time. In any case, I hope to see more coverage about this topic (from USA Today or elsewhere) as I’d find it fascinating if the WSJ were an accurate barometer of mainstream Republican support.
What do you think of Bush? I remember you being involved with the CRs etc. in college…
Josh: I was involved with the College Republicans in collge and I supported Bush in 2000 — as I’m a fiscal conservative, he seemed to represent me more than other candidates.
However, I was horrified by the passage of the PATRIOT Act in 2001. Taking away my freedoms is not something I take lightly. And, that’s the primary reason for which I hope that Bush is not reelected in November.
Wow . . .
so how’s that fiscal conservative idea working out for you?
Charles: Well, I’m fiscally conservative (and socially liberal) and it’s working out just fine :). Or, are you asking something else?
Nah I was just joking since Bush hasn’t exactly been a fiscal conservative by most measures.