Bush’s floor drops just a little further

February 28, 2006

There hasn’t been much in the way of national polls since shortly before the Vice President’s shooting accident, and well before the dustup over the Dubai Ports World controversy. Did the incidents take their toll on the president’s support? You could say that.

The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush’s approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high.

Americans are also overwhelmingly opposed to the Bush-backed deal giving a Dubai-owned company operational control over six major U.S. ports. Seven in 10 Americans, including 58 percent of Republicans, say they’re opposed to the agreement.

The more one looks at the numbers, the harder it is to see even a shred of good news for the White House.

* Approval rating — Bush’s 34% support is the lowest rating the president has had in any national poll ever. It’s also the lowest for a second-term president since Nixon. Fueling the decline is Bush’s faltering support from the right. His support among Republicans has dropped 10 points since January, to 72%, and approval among self-identified conservatives dropped to 52%, from 62%.

* Personal qualities — Only 29% of Americans say they have a positive view of Bush, the worst of his presidency. Moreover, a majority said the president does not care about people like themselves.

* Domestic surveillance — A majority of 51% said the president does not have the legal authority to “authorize wiretaps without a warrant to fight terrorism.” That is, of course, exactly what Bush is doing, which suggests a majority now believe the president is breaking the law.

* Iraq — Just 30% approve of how Bush is handling the Iraq war, another all-time low.

* Terrorism — Half of Americans say they disapprove of how Bush is handling the war on terror, while 43% approve.

* Katrina — Two out of three Americans said they do not think Bush has responded adequately to the needs of Katrina victims. Only 32% approve of the way President Bush is responding to those needs.

* Economy — Only 32% of respondents said the approve of Bush’s handling of the economy.

* Cheney — Just 18% said they had a favorable view of the vice president, down from 23% in January.

The phrase “free fall” comes to mind.

I think this Dubai deal has finally evoked the epiphany experience that we’ve all been waiting for. The Neocons have gotten a ticket to spy, torture, disclose classified information and lie about the leadup to a preemptive strike. They all have something in common: Americans think that these measures have made them safer. This deal is making people’s heads explode because it doesn’t follow the paradigm that has been used to convince them that this is all for their own good. Many trusting followers are now realizing that it may be true that this administration is not really concerned about them. Katrina hinted at that fact, but this is being handled very suspiciously and people are afraid. It is sending the message home to the Neocon believers that they are being duped. I believe that the Democrats need to jump all over this because it not only points to our true vulnerabilities that have been left unchecked in the way of protecting our borders (when all along we were being told we are covered) but it also points to the greed that makes this deal important to them. Money trumps security. I think it also could cause people to question what the spying is really about if National security isn’t a priority after all. Add the failing Iraq war to the mix, and people will also see that we are making a lot of enemies who may want to infiltrate our ports… This Dubai deal is very important and framing it is critical.

  • Just 18% said they had a favorable view of the vice president, down from 23% in January.

    Would that I could twitch my nose (a la Bewitched) and send these 18% to Iraq in cheap camoflauge…

    I swear…

    I’d sneeze faster than Dick can say “Duck” while out hunting Quail…

  • The “free fall” isn’t all that free when you think the lives lost and ruined by the quagmire In Iraq, and its dollar cost, and the failed response to Katrina, and the underfunding (and inanity) of No Child Left Behind, and….

    At least a few of Bush’s chickens are coming home to roost at last.

    Dander’s right though: the Democrats have done nothing – absolutely nothing – to call attention to the sins of the Bush Crime Family.

  • The MSM shills for Bush. That’s why it’s pointed out as something surprising when a reporter like Jack Cafferty of CNN actually points out that – Look Mommy , the King has no clothes on and his boss just stonewalled about shooting someone in the face.

  • * Domestic surveillance — A majority of 51% said the president does not have the legal authority to “authorize wiretaps without a warrant to fight terrorism.” That is, of course, exactly what Bush is doing, which suggests a majority now believe the president is breaking the law.

    I expect this number to rise steadily. Many people heard the regime’s excuse about only spying on terrorists and wondered, ‘what’s wrong with that?’ The more people mull this one over, the more they will come to the conclusion that either, A) there’s got to be a better way to go about this, or B) it’s a very dangerous precedent.

    It’s relatively easy to disarm wingnuts on this as well. I’ve stopped a few Bush defenders with a very simple question: So you would be OK with President Hillary eavesdropping on the NRA without a warrant?
    After a bit of sputtering, they see the problem.

  • Ed’s right: this may be the most expensive fall we’ve ever experienced as a country.

    But I always wonder how it will play out in the electorate. A majority may hate this guy, but it doesn’t point to democratic wins unless the party does something positive with it.

  • Bad timing for this blip – or maybe blop. Plenty of time
    for the Repubs to recover before November. If the
    Democrats would only, finally, seize the day, we might
    turn things around in Congress, which could the beginning
    of the end for the neocon revolution.

    But will they? They’ve remained on the sidelines so far.
    Why would they come out now?

    Interesting that this port deal has raised the public’s
    ire out of security reasons. It should be from the point
    of view of what unfettered capitalism is doing to the
    ordinary people of our nation. That, and social
    Darwinism. They are related, and they are destroying
    us.

  • What does Bush care? His “accountability moment” was in November 2004 and as long as his contributors and the GOP Leadership have no where else to turn, then he doesn’t suffer. Even the ones who are up for re-election. As long as the GOP can fan the flames (xenophobia, nationalism) and generate just enough heat to keep the gerrymandering gerrymandered, it’s all good.

  • I’d like to know who the 34% are who still approve. And with only 29% admitting they have a positive view of Bush, when will the SCLM stop referring to him as a person people find very likable? It seems that 7 out of 10 people don’t want to go to the barbeque anymore. I guess bubble boy will see that as a good thing–more beer for him. Still, as long as Diebold likes the Repubs, they don’t have to be too worried about who else does.

  • “* Approval rating — Bush’s 34% support is the lowest rating the president has had in any national poll ever. It’s also the lowest for a second-term president since Nixon.”

    Question – Is the the second sentance there really a meaningful statistic, considering since Nixon means just Reagan and Clinton, or are you just trying to link up Bush and Nixon in everyone’s mind?

  • WTF! Only a 59% disapproval rating! I will only be happy when more than 2/3 disapprove of Shrub. Wake me up from this nightmare when the disapproval nears 70%.

  • Another good scandal or two and we might see Bush’s popularity ratings hit 30%, maybe by June with any luck at all. I don’t think that poll ratings are going to change chimpmeister’s actions one iota, but maybe this will, hopefully, persuade people to vote Democrat in the Fall elections.

  • Correction — that last line should have been — persuade people to vote Democratic in the Fall elections.

    Jeez — I hate it when I see trolls doing that as a slam and then I make the same mistake myself. Time for another cup o’ coffee.

  • “Would that I could twitch my nose (a la Bewitched) and send these 18% to Iraq in cheap camouflage…”

    Better yet, get them sweatshirts with the Danish cartoons on them, and ship them to Green Zone for a free speech demonstration with Flemming Rose.

  • 34% is one out of three people who STILL THINK BUSH IS GOING A GOOD JOB. How is this possible???? Then I saw Jon Stewart on Larry King last night and he explained it. He said, “The republicans and democrats live in different universes. ”
    I try to put myself in the head of the Bush faithful and understand what it takes to honestly say ” I approve of Bush”. And then my brain explodes.

  • “34% is one out of three people who STILL THINK BUSH IS GOING A GOOD JOB. How is this possible????”

    As a Texas native and resident, I have a lot of experience with this mindset. Reading Bush supporters’ body language and choice of words suggests that what they usually mean is that Bush is on balance better than the alternative, the Democrats, who have been demonized and caricatured to the point of absurdity in their belief system. . . . Which is why it’s necessary for the democrats to stop being passive and reactive, and define themselves.

  • Bush is on balance better than the alternative, the Democrats, who have been demonized and caricatured to the point of absurdity in their belief system- Randy

    A valuable insight… Dems need to understand the mechanics of cult deprogramming.

  • I’m always curious to see the results on “Do you regret voting for George Bush in 2004?” but this is so rarely asked. “Well, obviously I could neither have (a) made a mistake nor (b) voted for Kerry.”

  • As long as Bush has half of the Republicans, he is happy.

    After all, they are the ones with the correct world view, so they are the only ones that matter.

  • marcus alrealius alrightus (#13) said “Another good scandal or two and we might see Bush’s popularity ratings hit 30%”.

    It shouldn’t require another good scandal or two. We’ve had a country’s lifetime worth of scandals in the last five years (in the last year, actually). If the dumb, damned, doomed Democrats would speak up once in a while about these scandals we’d have Shrubie in the lows 20s, just before we successfully impeach him (and hopefully, have him tried as a war criminal, too).

    As Randy (#18) said, “… it’s necessary for the democrats to stop being passive and reactive, and define themselves”.

    Trouble is, all the elected Democrats are sucking on the hind tits of the same federal hog that the elected (and lobbying) Republicans are slurping on. None of them wants to risk their second-rate grab-and-gimmie long enough to define a winning program, though god knows the current blogosphere contains more than enough material. What’s lacking is guts, balls.

  • If Bush were up for re-election, the administration would be concerned by these numbers, but he isn’t and they aren’t. Notice that none of their behavior has changed: they’re still stonewalling on the ports, wiretapping, torture etc. They still haven’t done anything to help the Katrina survivors, or to fix the abominable Medicare drug bill. The happy talk about Iraq continues, with no changes in policy. They just don’t care what the general public thinks of them at this point.

  • Ed — While I agree that there is more than ample evidence to have run these bozos out of town, I’m only in partial agreement about the Dem leaders. IMO the mainstream press shares equal culpability. These scandals (take your pick: Plame, Halliburton, Downing Street Memo, Katrina, etc.) should have been front-page, and above the fold, in every newspaper in the country. And, not just occasionally, but everyday, with long feature-length articles in the Sunday editions. The TV news organizations have been equally as silent on these major issues.

    In contrast there are a few — very few — Dem leaders, John Conyers comes to mind, that haven’t been sitting on their hands. How much coverage did Conyers get for his hearings on the Downing Street Memos? I think that CSPAN was the closest thing that he got to any major coverage.

    I haven’t given up hope, yet. Only because of the efforts of our host, and many others like him, do some of us avoid an endless barrage of stories about missing pretty young white women.

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