That's the actual headline for the latest Newsweek poll.
Reading through it, I'm amazed that mobs with torches haven't stormed the White House, or alternatively, that some GOP elder hasn't yet handed Bush a pistol with a single bullet and instructions to "do the honorable thing".
Here's the key bit:
Bush’s Iraq plan isn’t doing anything for his personal approval rating either; it’s again stuck at its lowest point in the history of the poll (31 percent). Meanwhile, the new Democratic-controlled Congress is getting relatively high marks. And 55 percent actually trust Congressional Dems on U.S. policy in Iraq, far more than the 32 percent who trust their commander in chief.
Lowest point in the poll.
Almost twice as many Americans trust the Democratic Congress on Iraq than Bush.
That second figure is amazing. The fabled GOP "security edge" is gone. Dead. Has ceased to be. Is an ex-edge.
Re: the surge itself,
While Democrats and Republicans have roundly criticized Bush’s proposal, the president—who received his lowest ratings so far for his handling of the war (24 percent) and terrorism (41 percent)—told a group of U.S. television stations this week that "I believe it will work.” He is in the minority. Nearly half of all respondents to the NEWSWEEK poll (45 percent) say they “strongly oppose” the plan. Nine in 10 Democrats (92 percent), 70 percent of independents and close to a third (31 percent) of Republicans disapprove.
There's still the partisan divide in the country, but the solid GOP block is beginning to crumble. A year or so ago, that 31 percent would have been 10 or 15 percent. He's completely lost the independents, who disapprove almost as strongly as Democrats do.
There is still more bad news for the president in the poll: Sixty-two percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. For the first time, more than half of the respondents (53 percent) disapprove of his approach to deterring terrorism. More than half of the public thinks he is not “honest and ethical” (54 percent) and lacks “strong leadership qualities” (57 percent). Just before the last election, 55 percent said Bush was honest and 63 percent saw him as a strong leader.
He's no longer "Strong Manly Bush"; instead, he's "Petulant Stubborn Bush". Make sure to have plenty of popcorn on hand on Tuesday for the State of the Union.
At this point, the various members of the GOP who are going to be running in elections, any elections, in 08, have to be looking at polls like this and be thinking to themselves "we can't have this man as the face of the party." We may very well be seeing a Goldwater Moment sometime this year.
-dms