Wow.
Good Morning America had James Carville and Bay Buchanan, conservative pundit and sister of Pat Buchanan on to discuss Bush's new sagging poll numbers ahead of tomorrow's SOTU.
I fully expected more of the Tweety/Couric/Russert lies and nonsense, trying to justify new ABC News/Washington Post poll numbers that are described as
the worst for a president entering his sixth year in office since Watergate hammered Richard Nixon.
And Bush's is not a single-issue problem: More than half disapprove of his work in eight out of nine areas tested in this ABC News/Washington Post poll, from Iraq to immigration to health care.
More below:
I must say that Charles Gibson nearly single handedly made up for the crap that passes for journalism on the Neocon Broadcasting Company. I have been pretty impressed with GMA since I started watching them a few weeks ago.
For starters, even Bay Buchanan couldn't justify the numbers. Her opening statement?
The most damaging aspect of the polls is not one number over the other but that there seems to be some general discontent among Americans that the leadership of the Republican party is not taking the country where it needed to go.
BAY BUCHANAN!!! This, from the sister of Pat Buchanan and head of The American Cause. Of course, dear brother Pat hasn't been the best friend to Georgie boy lately, but to see anyone from the right not mindlessly defending this Administration and Congress was a little treat.
But Gibson was right on here. Some of his better comments:
About strategy with sagging poll numbers:
numbers are volatile and you can never put too much in polls but this is not a man prone to changing course.
On Bush always painting a cluelessly rosy picture:
can he convince people that things are better than they think? - they haven't gotten their heating bills yet.
to which Bay Buchanan replied
You're absolutely right here. James has a point - the American people understand how things are. I don't think he can make that case (that things are better than they think). People are being laid off by the thousands.
And the last 2 toppers by Gibson:
[Bush should] go belly up a little bit, and admit that things are really bad.
The Abramoff scandal that [W's] got coming. It will be a very tough night, a very tough speech to make.
The full poll (again, it is ABC/WaPo so take it for what it is) is linked above - results are from the 23rd to the 26th - but some of the better results are below:
Approval/Disapproval rating (overall) 42%/56%
Was Iraq worth it? 55% said no
Bush approval on Iraq: 60% disapprove
Disapproval ratings:
Handling of deficit: 64%
Handling healthcare: 60%
Handling of immigration: 57%
Ethical issues: 56%
Economy: 60% say it is hurting
Honesty and trustworthy 53% say no
Does Bush understand my problems? 60% say no.
Good news for a Monday morning. Let's hope this carries through.....