Josh Marshall poses an interesting question over at Talking Points Memo:
Can you think of any policy decision or action President Bush has taken in his five-plus years in office that didn't enjoy its greatest popularity on day one and then become more or less consistently less popular over time?
Hmm, let's see. The War on Terror. Yup. War in Iraq. Yup. Tax cuts for the rich. Yup. Social Security "reform." Yup. No Child Left Behind education plan. Yup. Medicare prescription drug "reform." Yup. A constitutional amendment barring gay marriage. Yup.
Oh, wait! There is one action for which he has been praised since Day One: The national no-call telephone list. Yippee!
Conversely, has there been any Bush policy decision or action that was unpopular but has grown in popularity?
Nope.
What to make of this? That Bush, as more and more people are saying, may indeed go down in history as one of the worst presidents ever.
HOW LOW CAN HE GO?
Yikes! Bush has hit a new low with only a 33 percent approval rating in the latest Fox News Poll, which has typically tracked his approval numbers higher than most other public-opinion polls.
The reason: Shrinking support among Republicans.
Bush's slide in the Fox poll has been precipitous. He was at 47 percent this time last year, at 39 percent in mid-March and 36 percent two weeks ago.
2 comments:
What I find most interesting is how bleakly the views on the economy are. I think the middle class is feeling squeezed from all sides, health care, rising interest rates, unaffordable housing, gas prices, eroding pensions. It's pretty clear that this administration's economic handouts have largely gone to the already well-off. The jig is up. After all truly rich Americans (I don't consider "owning" an "expensive" house when you still have a mortgage) are the minority of the population.
You've hit a bit nail right on the head, Mr. K.
Although I plan to blog on this in the near future, there is a basic disconnect between some of the core economic numbers like the unemployment rate, which seem to be pretty good, and the fact that more and more Americans feel pinched, are sinking deeper into debt and no longer believe that their government is charting a sane economic course.
The core indicators don't convey things like the widening disparity between the rich and poor, while the unemployment numbers do not include the people whose benefits have run out and have given up looking for work.
We live in grim economic times and things will only get worse.
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