We’re almost at the point where we maybe we should just run one-line links on polls, unless there’s some dramatic change in direction…because we have more of the same: yet another poll saying President George Bush is in very serious political trouble.
Yesterday it was CBS News. Today it’s ABC News:
An increasingly unpopular war, an ethics cloud, and broad economic discontent have pushed public opinion of the Bush administration from bad to worse, infecting not only the president’s ratings on political issues but his personal credentials for honesty and leadership as well.
George W. Bush’s approval ratings for handling his job, Iraq, terrorism and the economy are all at career-lows. Sixty percent of Americans disapprove of his work in office overall, a level of discontent unseen since recession chased his father from office.
This brings us back to the central question: what can a President DO to reverse this kind of trend?
Is the same governing approach — in Bush’s case, appealing mostly to his party’s conservative and specifically social conservative base — viable? Will business as usual mean at best a mere holding action and no more slippage? Or is there a way to get out of the hole by changing the style of governing — reaching out. Polls matter because they translate into perceptions (at home and abroad) which influence clout (and often, events).
Our view? It may be very tough for Bush since it’s clear the credibility part of his “political capital” is empty when it comes to the left and sinking to new lows among independents. MORE:
With an indictment in the White House, just 40 percent call Bush honest and trustworthy — fewer than half for the first time — and 67 percent rate his handling of ethics in government negatively. Fewer than half call him a strong leader, another first. Two-thirds say he doesn’t understand their problems, and nearly six in 10 say he doesn’t share their values — again career-worst personal ratings on these attributes.
On Iraq, a new high — 55 percent — say the Bush administration intentionally misled the American public in making its case for war, up 12 points from last spring. Sixty percent say the war was not worth fighting, up seven points just since August to another high.
And here at home, with gasoline at $2.48 a gallon (even if down from recent price peaks), 65 percent say the economy is in bad shape, and 68 percent say the nation is on the “wrong track,” the most since 1996. The main reasons given: the economy, Iraq and Bush himself.
Adding to his woes, 59 percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll say Bush’s right hand man, Karl Rove, should resign.
In other words:
People with radios can simply reverse all the analyses done by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and THEN they’ll have a true idea of how all of this is really playing among the bulk of Americans. Sean and Rush have morphed into radio pep rallies for the faithful.
And if Bush hangs tough with Karl Rove, unless Rove emerges from Plamegate as pristine as a newborn baby, it’s going to cost Bush a lot politically.
Bigtime.
UPDATE: Make sure you read our co-blogger Jonathan Singer’s post here on the huge drop in Bush’s numbers in the Zogby poll. But the most relevant — and for the White House ominous — quote in Singer’s post is this one:
In addition to losing his base, Zogby finds that President Bush is also losing the support of the younger generation, perhaps an ominous sign for Republican prospects in the longer term. Only 18 percent of voters under the age of 25 approve of the President, low numbers even for a conservative.
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.