According to a ABC News/Washington Post poll just released a few minutes ago, President Bush now has the worst job approval/disapproval ratings of his presidency. As of June 5, according to the poll, 52% of Americans disapproved of Bush's performance as President, with 38% strongly disapproving. On the flip side, Bush's approval ratings hovered near their all-time lows, with just 48% approving and only 27% strongly approving . In other words, George W. Bush has about hit rock bottom in his Presidency, just 7 months after he won a self-proclaimed "mandate" in the November elections. Unfortunately for Bush, this claim turned out to be about as accurate as many of his others - WMD in Iraq (not!), a Saddam-9/11 link (not!), tax cuts wouldn't send us deep into deficits (not!), "mission accomplished" (not!), etc., etc.
As if the overall job approval numbers look bad for Bush, other poll questions generated even more dismal numbers. On the economy, for instance, Americans disapprove of Bush by 18 points, 40%-58%. On Social Security, it's even worse, with just 34% approving of Bush's performance on that issue (and 62% disapproving). On stem cell research, it's 33%-55% against Bush. On Iraq, it's 41%-58%. Even on Bush's strong suit, the "war on terror," it's the worst ever from the President's perspective, with the country now evenly split (50%-49%) on his performance in that area, compared to a 92%-5% approval rating just after 9/11 (and a 61%-38% rating just a few months ago, in January 2005).
As far as the legislative branch is concerned, Americans are in a sour mood as well, with just 42% approving of how our Republican-controlled Congress is doing its job. The only ray of "kind-of sort-of" good news for Republicans is this: Americans disapprove of Democrats in Congress as much as they disapprove of Republicans, with both at 42%-56%. In other words, as unpopular as President Bush, Tom DeLay, and Bill Frist have gotten, the Democrats haven't been able to capitalize. Hmmm.....
The takeaway story from this poll, however, has got to focus on President Bush. Here we have a guy who was on top of the world just a few months ago, with his allies arrogantly talking about a permanent Republican majority. Looks like those winter dreams have melted in the sweltering summer heat we're now experiencing.
Speaking of which, didn't Bush promise to do something about global warming? Or was that the same day he promised to run a "humble" foreign policy and to "change the tone in Washington DC?" Oh well, promises promises. Kind of like a certain Republican gubernatorial candidate right here in Virginia, come to think about it.