How Low Can He Go?

This is one morning after Election Day that George W. Bush probably wishes he could forget.  The two closely monitored gubernatorial elections ended with Democratic victories, stories abound raising the question of how much Bush's appearance in VA hurt Kilgore and now a new Pew poll shows that his numbers keep falling.  Bush's approval rating is down to 36%!  He's losing his base now, too!

And more disturbing the Scooter Libby/CIA leak story continues to be a drag on the administration.  When asked what stories are most prominent - the top 3 stories are all bad news for the Bush White House (Iraq, Hurricane recovery, Libby) - so any hope of an upward turn, or even an end to the downward spiral, seems bleak.

To add insult to injury - Fox News ran a story today from the CATO Institute that dissects the differences between the Clinton and Bush presidencies - addressing how Clinton was able to remain popular in the face of scandal while Bush is sinking fast. 

This is about the time when W is used to having someone bail him out but Rove is worried about his own salvation at the moment and the rumor is that Bush Sr. is none too happy with his son right now.  For the first time in his life W may be responsible for his own actions - a novel concept - his reaction should be interesting.  So far it's not impressive as his presence in South America was disappointing, to say the least.

-BG