http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1051631,00.htmlPresident Bush's ratings in the US opinion polls are at an all-time low
Peter Preston
Monday September 29, 2003
The Guardian
Oh, he's got trouble. No, not him: the other one. Public opinion polls, as scoffing politicians always say, aren't the real thing: but, in a country where elections of any meaningful kind only happen every two years, they're the next best thing. And too many terrible polling results can give a case of the shakes far beyond Bournemouth.
Watch George Bush's hand, for instance, as he does his courtly grovel for the Queen in November. A tremor here? A clenched fist there? Nobody should be surprised if the latest sets of American polls carry on heading south at their current rate. Smile a rictus smile and examine a sampling from the last few days. snip
Remember those 90% ratings after 9/11? You can forget them now, probably for ever. Of course they were phoney, puffed by fear and pride: but they're only one benchmark in charting decline. A much more relevant one is the way, month by month through this torrid summer, Bush's ratings have sunk, and sunk again.
It's not disastrous yet. He has a world-record war chest and a rich party betting everything on a second triumph. The economy - stubbornly refusing to see jobless figures falling - could perk up soon. Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden could row into Guantanamo Bay waving white hankies on sticks. Jacques Chirac could eat humble croissant at the UN. Events, great and small, can make a huge difference. But there are still good Republican reasons to grow pensive.
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