Extra! Extra! Bush approval rating at 37% according to the latest
Pew Poll.
Damn! Another "Bush comeback" story bites the dust. You know the routine: Bush has been in the tank for the better part of the last two years. And the media is tired of reporting that Bush still sucks. If only he'd make a comeback...then they'd have a story! They could write about the "strategy" used to revive the President's standing and how they turned things around. Every time Bush's approval rating rises within the margin of error, the media tries to trot out a "Bush comeback" story. Then another poll comes out showing Bush even lower than they previously thought and the story has to be shelved.
This is yet another example.
After some polls had Bush rising up to 40% and some showing him reaching 42%, a "Bush comeback" was in full swing. Never mind the change was in the margin of error. The media had a story and they were sticking to it. Why is the President coming back, they asked? It has to be the focus on terrorism and calling the Democrats "Defeatocrats" and saying they want to cut and run. Karl Rove has done it again. Chris Matthews declared that all the Republicans need to do is keep gaining 2 points a week and they'll be at 50 percent by Election Day! Wait, there's a new poll...37 percent? Are you sure? Oh dammit, we'll have to can the exclusive interview with Karl.
But seriously, this poll is excellent news for the Democrats. They are leading Republicans by 12 points on the generic ballot and are over the critical 50 percent mark (52 percent to be precise). Democrats are preferred on every single issue except for terrorism, but even with Bush's fear mongering, they can only manage 41 percent on that issue. Perhaps the most startling thing is that the Democrats hold a 15 point lead on taxes, which the Republicans have long leaned on to prop themselves up. A big factor behind Republican wins in the 1980s was the fear that the Democratic Congress would tax people's pants off if they got a Democratic President. But I digress...
If only 42 percent say the Republicans are better on terrorism, that means only their base thinks they are better on that. Thus, the voters who will decide this election are not predisposed to trust Republicans more on terrorism, making it harder for Bush to successfully use terrorism to get people to vote Republican. Also problematic is the fact that even with a Week of Fear, complete with threatening speeches by Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and the Decider himself, all culminating in the 9/11 anniversary and an Oval Office Adress, Bush could not budge his low approval ratings. When you consider this and the fact that a bunch of new polls have been released showing Republican incumbents trailing by significant margins, it's safe to say that the Republicans are absolutely screwed going into November.
The House is probably already lost. Every week, there are more competitive races that they once were counting on to be safe. Now the Senate's tougher. It has more to do with which states are voting and how your party did in the previous two election cycles. We're six seats down and have a lot of crucial pickups in Republican states. We're probably a bit short now, but who knows where we'll be by Election Day.