Bush Low at CBS
February 28th, 2006
CBS just posted a poll where Bush got an all-time low of 34%. The story implies the Dubai ports deal and the mess in Iraq as possible causes. Usually Bush gets this low only when he’s done something to tick off his base, like with Harriet Miers.
Update: this comparison shows that at this point in his second term, Bush has approval ratings higher only than Nixon, who at this point was mired in Watergate. Clinton, under fierce attack by Republicans, was at 57%.
Take these numbers with a tiny grain of salt: CBS has historically had the lowest numbers for Bush, and this polling was surely done in the full heat of the port brouhaha, which infuriated even some people who’ve otherwise stuck with Bush. But it certainly means the right-wing’s insistent fantasy of Bush somehow ascending to a near 50% level again is dashed. The only question is, how low Bush’s numbers stay (will, say, even Gallup dip below 40 again?), and to what lengths Congressional Republicans go to distance themselves from him.
Incidentally, the housing numbers are starting to deflate. If (when) that bubble finally bursts, the resultant economic pain could bring Bush’s numbers down a notch further, if you can believe it. That would make him the most electorally toxic president our parents – if not our grandparents – lifetime.
CBS has had him at the low end of polls in the past, but not always the lowest–and even within the CBS poll, this represents a drop of 8 points from their last poll a month earlier.
The only other poll to come out since CBS is the Cook/RT Strategies poll, which has him at 40%–but that poll puts Bush consistently high, and represents a drop of 7% from Bush’s last numbers, also a month ago. Ramussen, another poll that rates Bush on the high end, has him dropping five points in the past three weeks.
Whatever CBS’s range, the numbers Bush has now are still at record lows.