I've Heard of Lame Ducks, But This Is Ridiculous

[Lemur]

El Presidente's approval ratings have dropped to 26%, according to Newsweek's latest poll. Pollster.com has his approval at 29%. We're below Carter territory, verging into Nixon pre-resignation. Unbelievable. Graphic:

A couple of questions:

(1) What, in your opinion, is causing the Republican base to desert him? Is it really just immigration, or cumulative mismanagement, or something else?

(2) What consequences do we face from having a president for one and a half years who is not only reviled all over the world, but wildly unpopular at home?

[Zaknafien]

I think people everywhere, regardless of politics, are frustrated with the unabashed hubris and outright dishonesty of his administration by now. The mismanagement of Iraq, diplomacy, American standing abroad, not to mention immigration and his horrible education policy.. its almost like Bush just cant do anything right. People had high hopes for him, heck, I voted for him twice. but now his 'true colors' show, I suppose.

[Xiahou]

Not only Nixon, but he's still got Truman to beat too. Right now, he's still hovering around the Carter/Bush Sr. range.

(1) What, in your opinion, is causing the Republican base to desert him? Is it really just immigration, or cumulative mismanagement, or something else?

Yes.

(2) What consequences do we face from having a president for one and a half years who is not only reviled all over the world, but wildly unpopular at home?

I don't think we'll notice the difference. They were too feckless to accomplish any meaningful reforms even when the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress. Now that they don't and Bush is wildly unpopular, I expect this long established tradition to continue.

[Whacker]

What's even more precious is when he and his administration dismiss these polls and claim they are still doing what is right, best, and what the people want. That, and I seriously doubt he gives a crap anymore. The dems have all but proven to be toothless cowards so there's no real chance of him getting impeached at all.

[Strike For The South]

Os there a point where if he drops below say 20% we can exile him?

[Marshal Murat]

Maybe because the media is to afraid to say anything positive?

[Don Corleone]

I can only speak for my own dissatisfaction. The president has a proven track record of attempting to be a centrist, (laugh if you wish) with a very aggressive foreign policy. He is also the strongest advocate of corporate welfare this nation has ever seen. Say what you want about Clinton, in many ways he walked his walk of reducing agricultural and industrial subsidies.

When you couple this with rampant arrogance, you just have a formula for disaster. Forget about the public at large or the party faithful, the president appears to have no sense of responsibility to his own party leadership. He's been shafting the Republicans in the House for 7 years now. The Senate has been like a billionaires club, naturally they've been more in line with the White House agenda. But even with them, the president doesn't bother to make any explanations or defenses of his policy.

And frankly, the whole Alberto Gonzalez saga has become an albatross around W's neck. It really paints him in a bad light. Regardless of whether the Attorney General did anything illegal, he did much that has been patently stupid and grossly incompetent. The president has decided to play it safe and not risk another AG confirmation hearing with the Democrats in charge. But since he has this bad habit of not bothering to explain himself, just ruling by fiat, he has allowed the Democrats to paint this a sense of misguided loyalty and some questionable judgement on the part of the president himself. In truth, I get the impression that Gonzalez is persona non grata in the White House these days, but given the humiliation and spectacle another AG confirmation hearing would mean, Bush has decided to see this one through. I predict in 6 months, when the Dems are tired of playing the bash Berto in the media game, will start some process to actually force Gonzalez to resign. If that's not humiliating enough, I stronly suspect that if Bush or Cheney say one word to defend him, they'll start impeachment proceedings as well.

[Odin]

A couple of questions:

(1) What, in your opinion, is causing the Republican base to desert him? Is it really just immigration, or cumulative mismanagement, or something else?

he is pushing a immigration bill his base dosent want thats had to have shaved at least 2-5% off his poll numbers.

What consequences do we face from having a president for one and a half years who is not only reviled all over the world, but wildly unpopular at home?

it can go either way really, he does nothing, or he continues to find a way to ensure legacy. The later could be a problem.