Bush fatigue (or: Has Bush lost his mojo?)

Is America finally getting sick of Bush? I know we all hope so. I want to make the case that this is already happening and that we can hasten his downfall by throwing out the meme: Bush fatigue. Here goes:

A story on Yahoo cites that consumer confidence is down and Bush's assault on America's retirement security is to blame:

Consumers' confidence has fallen dramatically over the past month, reaching a 16-month low, and economists say the political debate over revamping Social Security (news - web sites) probably is a major factor in the decline.

 

A new poll out shows Bush's declining numbers since the State of the Union and his public campaign to enrich Wall Street with your payroll taxes. More below...

Thanks to this story we see that once again Bush's State of the Union is leading to a dip in the polls and his horrible performance trying to convince Americans to change the most trusted government program of all is actually backfiring!

Public confidence in President Bush's job performance and the nation's direction slipped in the opening weeks of his second term, particularly among people 50 and older, the poll found.  

Adults were evenly divided on Bush's job performance in January, but now 54 percent disapprove and 45 percent approve. The number who think the country is headed down the wrong track increased from 51 percent to 58 percent in the past month.  

The poll, conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs, was taken after the president's State of the Union address and the elections in Iraq and at the start of a heated debate over creating personal Social Security (news - web sites) accounts.  

Older Americans, especially those 65 and above, were most responsible for the declining confidence and approval numbers. Middle-aged people between 30 and 50 were about evenly split on Bush's job performance.  

"It looks like people are reacting to the State of the Union and plans to change Social Security," said Charles Franklin, a political scientist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sounds to me like the Democrats should start a massive campaign to point out that Bush's plan is backfiring and that Republicans who want to stay in office should not join him in his efforts to gut Social Security.

According to the poll, the only age group that thinks the president is doing a fair job is ages 30-39:

How different age groups feel about Bush's job performance.  
Age 18-29: Approve 43 percent; disapprove 57 percent  
Age 30-39: Approve, 51 percent; disapprove, 49 percent  
Age 40-49: Approve, 48 percent; disapprove, 50 percent  
Age 50-64: Approve, 43 percent; disapprove, 56 percent  
Age 65 and over: approve, 42 percent; disapprove 57 percent

So, hardly anyone is buying Bush's snake oil. I say, let's make sure they don't and talk up this poll to every pundit and politican whose phone number or e-mail you can get a hold of.