Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

June 16, 2004

The Discontent Gap

In line with other recent national surveys, a new Mother Jones Poll shows President Bush and Sen. John Kerry locked in a statistical dead heat: Kerry 46%, Bush 43% and Ralph Nader 5%.

But the poll also asked respondents "if their own lives had improved on more than a dozen fronts since Bush took office" and found the discontent is bipartisan. "Nearly two thirds of American voters say the country is on the wrong track and most -- including a majority of independents and even many moderate Republicans -- believe that they are personally worse off than three years ago on a broad range of issues, from their tax burden and job opportunities to their access to quality health care and schools. This 'discontent gap' between party loyalty and the issues indicates a strategic opening for a candidate who promises real change."

The poll was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, a Democratic polling and public research company. Stan Greenberg's analysis is also available.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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