According to the latest
AP-Ipsos poll, W is taking a hit among the very groups that energetically worked to put him in the White House.
From an AP piece:
Evangelicals, Republican women, Southerners and other critical groups in President Bush's political coalition are worried about the direction the nation is headed and disappointed with his performance, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
...
Among those most likely to have lost confidence about the nation's direction over the past year are white evangelicals, down 30 percentage points since November, Republican women, down 28 points, Southerners, down 26 points, and suburban men, down 20 points.
Very interesting... Why are they so upset?
Well,
Bush's supporters are uneasy about issues such as federal deficits, immigration and his latest nomination for the Supreme Court. Social conservatives are concerned about his choice of Miers, a relatively unknown lawyer who has most recently served as White House counsel.
"Bush is trying to get more support generally from the American public by seeming more moderate and showing he's a strong leader at the same time he has a rebellion within his own party," Thurber said. "The far right is starting to be very open about their claim that he's not a real conservative."
If W is really becoming more moderate, then folks like me will welcome it, and it's certainly a good sign that the wacko base seems to be turning on him. But maybe what it really reflects is the emerging general opinion that this administration is simply incompetent on multiple levels.
On another intriguing note, even Iraq is coming apart among some in the base...Anecdotally:
"We've lost focus on where we're supposed to be going and not able to respond to the crises that affect the people of this country," said David Ernest, a Republican from San Ramon, Calif., who is angry about the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. "We're mired in a Middle Eastern adventure and we've taken the focus off of our own country."
And in the main, it's pretty morbid:
Only 28 percent say the country is headed in the right direction while two-thirds, 66 percent, say it is on the wrong track, the poll found.
The bazillion dollar question of course is: Can Democrats capitalize and translate this malaise into election victories? ... I'm not convinced... yet....