A new poll conducted by CNN has good news for President George Bush, mediocre news for President George Bush — and good news for Mel Gibson:
Respondents to a CNN poll released Friday were nearly evenly split on President Bush’s handling of the current conflict in the Middle East.
Forty-six percent of 1,047 Americans participating in the telephone poll, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN, said they disapproved of Bush’s handling of the crisis, while 43 percent said they approved. Ten percent had no opinion.
That’s the so-so news for GWB. But then there’s this:
Overall, Bush’s job approval rating continues a slow climb, but the majority of Americans — 59 percent — said they disapprove of how Bush is handling his job as president. Forty percent said they approved. )
The approval numbers are a jump from previous polls. In April, only 32 percent said they approved of the way Bush was handling his job, and 60 percent disapproved. Since then, his approval numbers have been creeping upward.
This seems to be the case in other polls. It suggests that his base, which had deserted him, is returning as election time draws closer and the Republicans begin to make their case — much of it a case made by going on the attack against the Democrats versus defending Bush’s record.
The political time-bomb for Bush remains: Iraq:
Sixty-two percent of respondents said they disapproved of Bush’s handling of the situation in Iraq — tying poll results in May for the most respondents who disapprove. Another 59 percent said they disapproved of Bush’s handling of the economy.
Meanwhile poll also shows good numbers for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice )62 percent job approval), which means she can’t be counted out to be the subject of punditry (and bloggery) speculation about her running for President in 2008 (particularly if New York Senator Hillary Clinton looks as if she’ll wrap up the Democratic nomination).
But the best news in the poll is for Mel Gibson:
Lastly, Mel Gibson’s drunken-driving arrest and comments concerning Jews at the time it was made appears to have done little to diminish his popularity among Americans, poll results indicated. Fifty-two percent said they did not believe Gibson is anti-Semitic, and 58 percent said they are still among Gibson’s fans.
This means Gibson can go through the usual throw-yourself-on-the-public’s-mercy routine: being profusely contrite, eventually meeting with members of the offended group (Jews) and doing some big, highly-touted interview on Oprah, 60 Minutes or Larry King…complete with his eyes tearing up as he expresses regrets and says that’s not what’s really in his heart. And his movies will still make mega-bucks.
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.