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President George W. Bush's approval rating has slipped to 48 percent, the lowest level since February 2001, according to the Newsweek poll. Fifty percent of registered voters say they would not like to see Bush re-elected to a second term (45% say they would). And if the election were held today, Democratic frontrunner Sen. John Kerry would win over Bush by 50 percent to 45 percent among registered voters. However Bush would have clear wins over Democratic contenders Sen. John Edwards (49% to 44%), former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (50% to 44%) and retired General Wesley Clark (51% to 43%).
I'm just thinking out loud here (like most of my posts), but I am a bit curious about the cause of the falling support. The economy isn't as good as the Lucky Duckies crowd likes to claim, but it definitely isn't abysmal. Iraq is a mess, but support for it hasn't exactly fallen through the floor yet.
Maybe people are finally fed up with the Terra Terra Terra "it's a different world after 9/11" stuff. We kicked ass in Afghanistan, and we're still supposed to be scared. We kicked ass in Iraq, captured the Evil One with the Moustache, and we're still supposed to be scared. People are just goddamn sick of the low-level anxiety stuff, which has a certain perverse thrill for awhile. I think the Roveians were right that it was time to change the focus to something more positive, but what they came up with - Mars - was just stupid. And, when cornered on anything the knee-jerk reaction is just to revert to "terra terra terra." Frankly, it's just gotten old.