Concerns voiced on Bush agenda for new term

After enduring a brutally fought election campaign, Americans are optimistic about the next four years under President Bush, but have reserv...

After enduring a brutally fought election campaign, Americans are optimistic about the next four years under President Bush, but have reservations about central elements of the second-term agenda he presented in defeating Senator John Kerry, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

At a time when the White House has portrayed Bush’s 3.5-million-vote victory as a mandate, the poll found that Americans are at best ambivalent about Bush’s plans to reshape social security, rewrite the tax code, cut taxes and appoint conservative judges to the bench. There is continuing disapproval of Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq, with a plurality now saying it was a mistake to invade in the first place.

While Democrats, not surprisingly, were the staunchest opponents of many elements of Bush’s second-term agenda, the concerns extended across party lines in some cases. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents—including 51 per cent of Republicans—said it was more important to reduce deficits than to cut taxes, a central element of Bush’s economic agenda.

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The poll also found pervasive concern about what Americans view as the corrosive effect Hollywood and popular culture have on the nation’s values and moral standards. Seventy per cent said they were very or somewhat concerned that television, movies and popular music were lowering moral standards in the country.

While this sentiment was voiced by supporters of Bush and of Kerry, it appears that the concern about a decline in values is becoming another point of polarisation in American politics. Bush’s supporters were more likely to cite it than were Kerry’s voters, and it was an issue that had particular resonance in the South and among weekly churchgoers, rural voters and women.

The poll found that 55 per cent of Kerry’s supporters said that Bush’s supporters did not share their views and morals; 54 per cent of Bush’s voters said the same thing of those who voted for Kerry.

In addition, 70 per cent of Kerry’s supporters said they were more worried about candidates who ‘‘are too close to religion and religious leaders’’ than about political leaders who ‘‘don’t pay enough attention’’ to religion, after a campaign in which Bush repeatedly spoke of God and his faith. By contrast, 52 per cent of Bush’s supporters said they were more worried about officials who ‘‘don’t pay enough attention to religion and religious leaders.’’ —NYT