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May 5, 2006 There is a growing fallacy in the political arena that the current low approval scores of our president, and even Republicans in Congress, is evidence of some kind of de facto rejection of the conservative agenda and, correspondingly, an affirmation of the liberal perspective. Left wingers can be seen puffing their collective chests out as if they have achieved something special by sitting back for the last five years, avoiding difficult decisions and issues, and striking out at President Bush whenever the opportunity presented itself. I've personally encountered liberal Democrats who truly believe that conservatism itself is dying because Bush does not score higher on public opinion polls. The tendency is, when someone studies the poll results, to assume that others are expressing non support of the president for the same reason(s) they are. So, if I don't like President Bush because I think he's a liar and too much of a religious zealot, those must be the same reasons others have for reaching the same conclusion. This is an illogical conclusion that does not follow the flow of actual evidence. The truth of the matter, of course, is that President Bush was bound to take a substantial drop in the polls from the time the decision was made to do something about the menace in Iraq while most of the rest of the world was either afraid or on the take and had no interest in ousting the brutal dictator. War is certainly not an option driven by its popularity. It is ugly and unpredictable and a significant segment of the population, being more pacifist, wants no part of it under any circumstances. In addition, much of the American public and our drive-through, M-TV culture does not have the patience for anything which takes more than a few hours from our busy days to complete. Too many of us don't like this war because of its uncertainty and, well, it just takes too long. Can't those Iraqi's just get that democracy going already; "American Idol" is on and I want to see who wins! The decline in Bush's popularity, though, is not limited to just the conflict in Iraq and its ongoing costs. The truth of the matter is that, other than for about a half year after 9/11, most Democrats have despised President Bush since the election of 2000 and its aftermath. It is pure folly to think that Bush ever had the support of these people. They were on board for a while in the wake of the terrorist attacks, but their "support" was bound to dwindle as time moved on, with or without the Iraq war impact. When a president's approval rating drops significantly below the 50% level, it is because he is losing his base, and it can be political suicide to walk away from one's base of support. In Bush's case, the conservative Republican support, which has elected him to the highest office twice, is dwindling. It is not shrinking because this block of voters is suddenly put off with conservatism. In fact, quite the opposite is actually occurring. Many conservatives are tired of seeing Bush, and Republicans in Congress, kowtowing to the minority party; they are disenchanted with the endless government spending and the fact that the conservative majority has, often times, acted anything but conservative. President Bush has been a degree less than tough on the illegal immigration issue and this has further disenchanted conservatives across the country. Note that this is not a rejection of conservatism, rather it is evidence of a conservative electorate adhering to its principles instead of to partisan politics. The decline in Bush's popularity is, contrary to what many liberals believe, an affirmation of conservatism. Liberals are in for a rude awakening if they think the country is moving to the left. Conservative ideals are indeed alive and well because they are what most of the people in this nation--Democrat and Republican--prefer. This is why politicians who continue to earnestly pursue conservative causes will continue to be elected and re-elected. Conservative laws will continue to garner more favorability over liberal ones. (This is why liberals will continue to pursue their agenda through the courts as opposed to open elections or the legislative branch.) People want "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance; they want to practice their faith without left wing mocking; they want smaller and less intrusive government and they want to keep most of the income they work so hard for in the first place. Americans want equality for all, not just for those the government tells us are "protected". They want to raise and educate their families as they see fit; they want the freedom to choose what to drive, wear, eat and where to live without the interference of government leaders that work for them after all. Americans want legal immigrants who want to be a part of our culture not illegal ones who just want to siphon from it while waving their home country flags in our faces. And, finally, Americans want as much of the rest of the world as possible to enjoy the benefits of freedom and are willing to fight for that cause. Indeed, to paraphrase on old quote: The death of conservatism has been greatly exagerated. ------------ About the author: Ed Abraham is a concerned citizen living in flyover country, U.S.A., who happens to be truly disgusted by the loss of common sense in our society and is doing all he can to try to reinstall it. Email: eabra@myway.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. 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