The great divide

I normally don't pay much attention to polls unless a campaign is in full swing. But ABC News has released a poll which suggests two things that really aren't that suprising. In the first place, public anger at Bush over his response to Katrina isn't nearly as great as the media furor would suggest. Secondly, the public's opinion of Bush's response is split right down the political divide. Republicans are pleased with Bush and Democrats are not. The poll notes:

Partisanship, as noted, plays a huge role: Nearly three-quarters of Republicans approve of the president's performance, and two-thirds rate the government's overall response positively. About seven in 10 Democrats take the opposite view on both scores.

The media's constant coverage of how allegedly poor Bush's response was isn't surprising given the media's pleasure in Bush-bashing and the fact that most of the victims in New Orleans who were/are stranded in the city are more likely than not to be opposed to Bush in the first place. Most of the victims were minorities who by overwhelming majorities were already convinced that Bush didn't care about them. Their traumatic experiences after Katrina (an act of God, not government) only reinforces this misguided perception.