That is Bush’s latest approval rating according to a new New York Times/CBS poll. Most damage is also coming from within his own party now:
In the months since the Congressional elections, President Bush has lost substantial support among members of his own party, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
Mr. Bush’s approval rating dropped 13 percentage points since last fall among Republicans, 65 percent of whom now say they approve of the way he is handling his job as president, compared with 78 percent last October.
OUCH. It took them awhile to wake up to the fact that Bush has been a lame duck since he took office in 2001. He had that bump during 9/11, but even Charles Manson could have had a decent approval rating then.
Lately Bush has been pushing healthcare in his radio addresses. Funny that his least exposed form of speaking gets this push, but the American people still aren’t buying his spin.
Only 24 percent said they were satisfied with President Bush’s handling of the health insurance issue, despite his recent initiatives, and 62 percent said the Democrats were more likely to improve the health care system.
Americans showed a striking willingness in the poll to make tradeoffs to guarantee health insurance for all, including paying as much as $500 more in taxes a year and forgoing future tax cuts.
This really strikes at the heart of GOP campaign talking points. With an overwhelming number of Americans supporting a tax increase for some form of universal healthcare, they can no longer try to attack Democrats on their tax stance. This also can provide substantial help to John Edwards, who publicly said we need to raise taxes for universal healthcare – an issue which he is passionate about enacting. Once he gets more exposure on the campaign trail and can shake the connection between him and Kerry, then he will most likely start going up in the polls. Of course as Republicans keep saying that we don’t need/can’t afford universal healthcare, they will start to suffer even more.
It defiantly looks like the country has reversed it’s rightward slant and made a move to left of center now.