George W. Bush is continuing to lose popular support, even among members of his own party. Polling data released today by the New York Times/CBS News Poll shows the president's support among Republicans down 13 percentage points since the November election, dropping from 78 percent then to 65 percent now.
Among all voters, the poll showed the president's approval at only 29 percent. That figure is also down since November, when it stood at 34 percent.
The president's other numbers look equally bad. On fighting terrorism, the war in Iraq, and the general direction of the country, the poll shows increased disapprove the the job the president is doing.
Our take on the president's numbers: It's about time.
The Bush Administration has exploited the September 11 attacks for years, offering a steady diet of ideologically driven fear and hyperbole in place of solid analysis and planning. Saddam was never a real threat to the U.S., Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction, and there was no compelling reason to invade Iraq when we did. The president did not make the world safer and we are now bogged down in a war we have no idea how to end.
Despite these facts, millions of American clung to the hope that the president and his advisers knew what they were talking about. They didn't. As they say in advertising, caveat emptor.
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