The reason Bush's numbers continue to plummet is that Rove's current political strategy entirely misses the point. I'm a resident of southern California. We could have a big earthquake any time - there won't be any warning. Not to mention the possibility (lower I think) of a terrorist attack. With this in mind, what disturbs me the most about the government's response to Katrina isn't my worry that FEMA won't have enough trailers to live in 3 weeks later. It's what they will do during the immediate emergency, during the critical period when my family's lives and my life will hang in the balance.
Rove misses the point because the current strategy is to "reassure" us by throwing borrowed money at the damage until it's all fixed. I for one would be vastly more reassured if I saw serious attention being paid to fixing the disaster response capability, starting with firing the hacks now in charge and replacing them with experienced professionals. Damage repair is not the issue. Emergency response is. Rove and Bush have not done one thing to reassure anybody on that point. They haven't even tried.
PS: In the immediate aftermath of 9-11, I recall thinking that there might be a silver lining to the fact that Bush and Co. had stolen the election. If they show half has much ruthless creativity in pursuing Osama as they did in destroying Gore, I thought, we're safe. I was of course much, much too optimistic. It turns out that were interested in destroying Gore. They have no interest in Osama, fighting terrorism or anything else until and unless it threatens their political power. I think the population at large is beginning to see this. But then, experience shows I'm too optimistic.