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January 25, 2004
Was That a Bounce or a Thud?
On Wednesday, DR commented on how partisan Bush's State of the Union (SOTU) address seemed and, for that reason, out of step with the political center of the country which harbors considerable skepticism about the president and his policies.
Results of the latest Newsweek poll, conducted two days after Bush's address, suggest this diagnosis was accurate. Instead of the bounce in approval ratings frequently enjoyed by presidents after they deliver the SOTU, Bush appears to have landed with a thud.
The Newsweek poll has his approval rating down to 50 percent, with 44 percent disapproval, the worst rating of his presidency in this poll. Moreover, just 44 percent say they want to see him re-elected, compared to 52 percent who say they don't, also the worst "re-elect" performance of his presidency. Finally, John Kerry actually beats Bush in a head-to-head matchup among registered voters, 49 percent to 46 percent, which has not happened before in Newsweek's poll. Other candidates don't fare quite so well, but are still close. Clark, for example, has only a 1 point deficit in a Bush-Clark matchup and John Edwards loses his matchup by only 3 points (note that Edwards hitherto has never been closer than 11 points when matched up against Bush).
Guess Bush would have been wiser to give a real State of the Union address, rather than the partisan jeremiad he chose to deliver. But it's too late now. On to November!
Posted by Ruy Teixeira at 09:42 PM | link
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