Wonderful news from
gallup!
Despite opposition to his policies, Dubya has always gotten by on his frat boy charisma. Just look at the Bush/Gore debates, where Gore won hands down by any objective measure, strength of policy, experience, ability to articulate an English sentence, but Bush was universally declared the winner because people found him more "likable." The tyranny of likability has finaly come to an end.
Gallup's most recent poll shows Bush at 49% approval, 48% disapproval. This alone is wonderful news. Previous polls have show Bush's approval to be almost as low, however, but his favorability, his likability, has always hovered at least in the mid to high 60s. Gallup now has him at 52% favorability, a massive 13 point drop.
Why is this such good news? Simply put, Bush's biggest asset has always been that average voters would like to have a beer with him. Throughout all the scandals of his Presidency, the regular guy has consistantly given him a pass because he seems like a friend, and therefore not someone they want to mistrust. That Bush is losing his likability advantage shows one of two things, either more Americans are starting to see him as an asshole, and thus be less inclined to trust his lies, or his lies have finally caused more Americans to think he's an asshole. Either way, this is wonderful news. Consider the lesson in voter superficiality Howard Dean got in Iowa. With this recent shift in Bush's likability, Bush may be the new Dean.
Ebo