Gallup Has More Bad News For Bush

This is good:

The Feb. 28 to March 1 poll finds 38% of Americans approving and 60% disapproving of Bush's job as president, within a point of his lowest approval rating and tied for his highest disapproval rating.

When Americans were asked a follow-up of whether they strongly approve or disapprove of Bush, more than twice as many Americans say they strongly disapprove (44%) as say they strongly approve (20%) of Bush. The strong disapproval rating is the highest Gallup has measured for Bush by a percentage point, and is the highest for any president since Richard Nixon during the Watergate era.

Nixon is the only other president to register strong disapproval ratings above 40% in Gallup Polls. Nixon had a 48% strong disapproval rating in February 1974, and a 46% rating days before he resigned from office in August 1974. Gallup first asked about strength of approval during the Lyndon Johnson administration, and has asked it periodically for every president since.

This article from the Washington Post helps explain why Bush's support in the G.O.P. is so soft:

If the ancient political wisdom is correct that a charge unanswered is a charge agreed to, the Bush White House pleaded guilty yesterday at the Cato Institute to some extraordinary allegations.

"We did ask a few members of the Bush economic team to come," explained David Boaz, the think tank's executive vice president, as he moderated a discussion between two prominent conservatives about President Bush. "We didn 't get that."

Now why would the administration pass up such an invitation?

Well, it could have been because of the first speaker, former Reagan aide Bruce Bartlett. Author of the new book "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy," Bartlett called the administration "unconscionable," "irresponsible," "vindictive" and "inept."

It might also have had something to do with speaker No. 2, conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan. Author of the forthcoming "The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It; How to Get It Back," Sullivan called Bush "reckless" and "a socialist," and accused him of betraying "almost every principle conservatism has ever stood for."

Nor was moderator Boaz a voice of moderation. He blamed Bush for "a 48 percent increase in spending in just six years," a "federalization of public schools" and "the biggest entitlement since LBJ."

Republicans are faced with a big problem in the run-up to the 2006 mid-term elections. It is pretty much impossible at this point for any GOP member of Congress who is up for reelection to continue his or her support for Bush and his programs, given that Bush is the most unpopular president in a generation. Some candidates may have to adopt the approach of Bartlett and Sullivan and take the position that Bush has betrayed true conservative sensibilities. This will be a difficult approach to take, given that all of these Republicans are no doubt on the record giving their full support to Bush and his policies during the past several years.

One of the favorite G.O.P. terms from the last election cycle was "flip-flopper." Kerry was constantly accused of being one of those. The Democrats should be able to use this phrase repeatedly and to great effect in the run-up to the mid-terms against any GOP candidate who attempts to distance himself from Bush. The Republican candidates who decide to support Bush can be attacked at will for supporting a failed presidency, and the ones who pull their support for Bush can be attacked as flip-floppers who are merely trying to ride the political winds.

It should be a good show.