The dam seems to have finally burst. The veneer of the presidency, which in my opinion was the primary factor holding Bush’s numbers artificially high, has worn to less than paper-thin by the errors and misdeeds of him and his administration–and Abu Ghraib seems to have finally broken the floor in the president’s numbers. After

Perp Walk?

holding steady around 50% for months, Bush has, in a single week, free-fallen down to 44%, and it is highly unlikely that he has hit bottom yet.

According to the fresh CBS News poll, despite two months of fair (though not stellar) jobs reports, his numbers on the economy are as dismal as ever: 34% approval, 60% disapproval. Only 39% approve of his handling of the war in Iraq, and his approval rate for handling the campaign against terrorism has plummeted to 51% after being at 60% just two weeks ago.

Only 29% of Americans now believe that the war in Iraq was “worth it”; a growing number of Americans feel that we are no longer in control in Iraq (57%, up from 50% two weeks ago) and that we should get the hell out of Dodge (55%, up from 46%). The same dichotomy that Gallup found exists here as well: despite the above-mentioned lack of support for the war, still 49% feel that it was “the right thing”–actually 2% more than two weeks ago. But the numbers are close, 45% think we should have stayed out. Some of the same disenchantment we saw in Spain following the bombings has shown up here, with 43% of respondents saying the government tried to cover up the prisoner scandal, and 61% believe the military is upset only because the public found out.

More as it comes in.