Bush Continues to Sink in Polls

Except for rubber stamp Republicans in Congress, fewer and fewer Americans are defending the performance of George W. Bush. Here's the story from Jeffrey M. Jones of The Gallup Poll:

A new Gallup Poll finds George W. Bush with a 32% approval rating. That is down slightly from his readings in January, and is within one point of the low rating of his entire administration. More Americans disapprove than approve of his handling of seven different issues tested in the poll; he is rated most positively on terrorism and the economy. Bush's approval ratings on foreign affairs, the situation in Iraq, and immigration are the lowest of his administration.

I'm amazed that there are still Republicans who believe Bush is doing well. Loyalty in the face of incompetence is an extraordinary thing. What do Bush's loyalists still see that the rest of us don't? Even his continuing call for tax cuts in the face of an expensive war and deficits as far as the eye can see make absolutely no sense. The Bush presidency has become a big, noisy, lumbering machine wandering in the desert belching smoke and fumes without direction or purpose.

There are questions I wish the pollsters would ask. For example, how many Americans think George W. Bush is trustworthy? How many Americans think the president is competent? How many Americans believe Bush understand the problems of average Americans? How many Americans believe Bush kept his promises about New Orleans? What percentage of Americans believe the Bush Administration will keep us out of a third war? The list is long and it is unlike any series of questions pollsters might have asked in the last sixty years. Most Americans know something is wrong but I suspect they still do not fully appreciate the disaster of this presidency; it's past time to do a regular quarterly poll on this question: Do you believe Bush's presidency is a success or a failure?