A new Fox News poll gives yet another “snapshot” of voters’ perceptions on who will hold the White House in 2008 — and of what voters feel about President George Bush. And it’s good news for the Democrats…except one…and bad news for GWB:
The latest FOX News poll finds that Americans think the next person to move into the White House will be a Democrat, and while many voters would be enthusiastic or pleased if any one of the current front-runners were to win, one candidate scares more people than the others — Sen. Hillary Clinton.
In addition, voters are twice as likely to say that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards made the right decision to stay in the race despite his wife Elizabeth’s recent cancer diagnosis.
President Bush’s job approval rating dips a point this week to 33 percent, matching a previous low in approval almost a year ago (33 percent, April 18-19, 2006). Disapproval of the president’s performance has increased to 61 percent — the highest disapproval rating of his presidency.
The key question: Bush is virtually certain to veto any bill that comes before him with any kind of a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. And the game of political chicken — and the final verdict of which side’s political chicken will wind up fried — will begin.
Will Bush’s position in polls and public support further erode if he vetoes the bill and blames it on the Democrats or will the Democrats find themselves shooting themselves in the foot and reviving Bush’s fortunes, just as the Republicans who closed down the government gave President Bill Clinton a needed political boost? Are the Democrats (again) underestimating Bush? Or are Bush and Rove (again as in the 2006 elections) underestimating the Democrats?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.