Why Edwards-Jolie 2008 Won't Quite Work

Polling Report published an unusually apt question for the 2008 presidential race, asked of party members and leaners: do you find the following candidate "an acceptable nominee of (your party) or not"

For the Democrats: Edwards, Clinton, Gore, Kerry and Biden have are acceptable to a majority, with Edwards out fron at 71%, Clinton 69%, Gore 68%, and Kerry at 59%. A, this makes the race very competitive, and B), suggests the latent appeal of Edwards, who's been lying semi-low working on poverty the way Gore works on warming.

Almost more interesting, for the Republicans: only Giuliani, Rice and McCain have a majority of their party's support. Giuliani at 73%. (Don't compare the total percents across parties - there are about 4% more Democrats. ) No conservatives get a majority of the public partisans. It's a different story I imagine among actitivists- I doubt they'll nominate an abortion, gay tolerant moderate.

Rasmussen Reports, which tends to run with 7% or 8% more Bush "approval" than almost any other poll, has him droppping to 37% in the last two days - a loss of eight points in a week, I assume his lame "let it be" performance around the invasion of the only actually democratic Arabic country in the Middle East, with some reason, but with tremendous moral and diplomatic damage, by Israel.

And today's greatest poll oddity: Angelina Jolie only receives 46% approval by Americans. I say again, Angelina Jolie only receives 46% approval of Americans. One of the most stunning women in the world, working for the UN on refugees, a goodwill ambassdor for the US, one of the few Americans that people around the world are happy to see, er, anymore, gets 46%? We need the crosstabs: what the hell?

Is America blind or gay? Or, is no American woman gay? (That can't be it. I've lived in Portland.) Or, is every Republican and Independent in America a close friend of Jennifer Aniston? (a sentence that I admit I never expected to type.) Did the Christian Coalition send out a Love Police brochure and badge to everyone who shops at Wal Mart? 46% means tens of millions of straight men "disapprove" of Angelina Jolie. My first thought was: were their wives in the room? But the conversation on his end of the phone line would be: "uh..disapprove."

Do 100 million American women still nuture unrealistic hopes of landing Brad Pitt, and consider her in the way? Bush fucks everything in the entire world up, gets 44% the same week and ANGELINA JOLIE GETS 46%? I even saw Tomb Raider and still "approve" of Angelina Jolie. She is a whole Venusian atmosphere of hotness AND genuinely works hard for social responsibility and barely eeks out a PLURALITY?

If I reverse this, and try to think of an mind-bendingly attractive celebrity woman I "disapprove" of, the list is a little short. Latouche may bring up Britney Spears as an example, with one problem: she's pleasant enough, but not especially attractive, sort of a Mary Lou Retton to Racquel Welch. Winnona Ryder shoplifts, Kate Moss does coke, oh dear, bad girls. There was an almost episode a while back when Jessica Simpson endorsed Bush, but, as my girlfriend at the time pointed out, "she kind of looks like a man," which might say something about her fan base.

I don't even disapprove of Paris Hilton, exactly. I blame society.

Direct evidence aside, I am somewhat speechless: what indeed do you have to do to impress America? If Angelina Jolie rushed into a orphanage in Somalia which had just been bombed by Al Qaida and emerged with the last child in one arm and an adorable kitten, its little whiskers slightly singed, in the other, would she MAYBE get APPROVAL from a grudging majority of Americans?