A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Friday to Sunday said 38 percent of Americans feel major changes must be made in Social Security within the next two years. In January, that number was 49 percent.
Bush has made reforming Social Security, which includes a contentious plan to put some of the program's money into the stock market, a key part of his second-term agenda.
Other numbers in the poll don't play out so well for the president, either. Forty-seven percent of those polled trusted the Democratic Party to deal with the issue of Social Security benefits, while 37 percent trusted Republicans.
And, CNN just flashed up on the screen that Bush approval/disapproval on Social Security went from 43/48 a month ago to 35/56 now.
So, why would any sane Democrat even think about trying to give him a victory on this issue when there's no chance of a reasonable plan making it out of a conference committee?