Bush Poll Numbers Down Even More: 34 percent approve

The NY Times/CBS poll released today shows that Bush's approval rating is now at 34 percent, down 8 points in a month. While part of the drop can be explained by the Arab-bashing over the DP World ports deal, much of the blame for the PR fiasco that has ensued can be placed with Bush. His handling of the approval of the Dubai-based company matches his handling of hurricane Katrina, post-invasion Iraq and his handling of the economy. There are a few points in the article worth noting:

"There has been a decline in Mr. Bush's support even among Republicans. In the January Times/CBS News poll, 83 percent of Republicans approved of the way he was handling his job; in the latest poll 72 percent approve. Approval among self-identified conservatives also dropped to 52 percent, from 62 percent."
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"On Iraq, 30 percent said they approved of his management of the situation there and 65 percent disapproved."
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"Republicans are over all more positive about the work in Iraq than Democrats, with 65 percent saying that things are going well there for the United States. But that number was still down from 76 percent in January."
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"Times/CBS News polls showed George Bush with 34 percent in June 1992 and Bill Clinton with 36 percent in September 1994."

So while conservatives and Republicans remain in quite lockstep agreement with the President, even a number of them are coming to differentiate between the spin of the Bush administration and Republicans in general and the reality, both in Bush's overall performance and more specifically on Iraq. As for the 65 percent of Republicans who say things are going well for us in Iraq, I am left speechless. Is it a sign of things going well that US troops keep dying, that Iraq is on the brink of civil war, with American troops caught in the middle, that the political process is moving slowly, if at all. If that is things going well for America in Iraq, I don't want to know what they consider bad. And finally, in a nice little bitchslap to Bush personally, his approval rating is as good as his father towards the latters last year in office and lower than Clinton's lowest point. Come on George, you can start crying now.