Comments on the WaPo Poll

First, polls only mean so much. Anytime you grab one to three thousand people out of a population of nearly 300 million, it can only be somewhat representational.

Second, believe it or not, even as much as I do not like Mr. Bush or his administration, I take NO joy in seeing a president just re-elected (by a squeak and not a mandate) to four more years scraping the pavement in poll numbers. If Mr. Bush as a person fails, I might smile. But this failure hurts our country badly and that I don't enjoy. If we frog marched Mr. Bush out of the White House in handcuffs tomorrow, taking Dick Cheney and Karl Rove and company with him, we'd still be in this mess.

Third, even given that polls mean just so much, we're starting to see a shift AWAY from the 50-50 division but in ways that are not supportive or positive about this president or his sense of direction (which seems to be poorer even than my own ::grin::). So much for him being a uniter and not a divider - division is basically all he's done except for a few rah-rah-US boombah days around 9/11.

Fourth, I am heartened to see that many Republicans join Democrats in not buying this "filibuster is against people of faith" hogwash being flown by disreputable men like Bill Frist and Tom DeLay. The filibuster has helped both Dems and Reps in the past, and it has been used both well and badly in the past by both parties. It's one of our checks and balances and should remain. When I asked myself if I would be so opposed to the end of the filibuster if the Dems were pushing it, my best guess is that I would be just as opposed if it were the Dems trying to end it.

Are we sorry yet? Or, more importantly, are the people who voted for him sorry yet (the rest of us have been sorry since December 2000)? In my own discussion with people (many of whom close to me geographically are Republicans), many questioned their vote within days of the 2004 election. Many more are questioning it now. This is supported by talks with others who are doing informal polls around the country.

But how that helps, I don't know. We're stuck.