Can Bush be trusted? DR doesn't think so. You probably don't either. But, much more importantly, that's what American voters, especially swing voters, are starting to think. If that sense of trust continues to deteriorate, Bush will be, as his father might put it, in "deep doo-doo", since he will have little to fall back on in explaining his increasingly unpopular policies.

Here are some illustrative findings from the latest Time/CNN poll. In this poll, just 44 percent say Bush is "a leader you can trust", compared to 55 percent say they have "some doubts and reservations". Critically, this gap widens to a yawning 23 points among political independents: only 38 percent trust him, while 61 percent have doubts and reservations.

The poll also asks about a series of issues and whether respondents do or do not "in general" believe what Bush says about these issues. With the exception of "the war on terrorism" (31 percent don't believe/66 percent believe), the public is now serious split about Bush's credibility in key areas: the state of the economy (44 percent don't believe/49 percent believe); the federal budget deficit (43 percent/48 percent); Iraq's WMD programs (note usage picked up from White House!) prior to the war (47/47); and the cost of rebuilding Iraq (45/46).

Independents in every case are even more skeptical of Bush. And on Iraq's WMD "programs" and the cost of rebuilding Iraq, they don't believe him by fairly wide margins (53-41 and 52-36, respectively).

In addition, the poll asks respondents to evaluate both Bush and John Kerry on a wide range of personal characteristics. It is striking that Bush--a president said to have benefitted greatly from a strong personal bond with the American people--does little better than Kerry on many of these characteristics and frequently worse. Of course, Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, will come under increased scrutiny as the campaign unfolds, but he starts with a better image, and Bush with a worse one, than many would have thought possible just two months when Saddam’s capture was dominating the news.

For example, by only an 11 point margin (53 percent to 42 percent), the public say "honest and trustworthy" applies to Bush. But they say the same thing about Kerry by 36 points (56 percent to 20 percent).

Or here's an interesting one: 39 percent say "did his duty for the country during the Vietnam war" applies to Bush, compared to 40 percent who say it doesn't , with independents having an even more negative 34/43 split on this question. Kerry, on the other hand, gets an overwhelmingly positive evaluation, 60 percent to 15 percent.

Kerry also does well on "cares about the average American", which 64 percent of the public thinks applies to him, compared to 20 percent who don't, a 44 point margin. Bush only gets a narrow 8 point margin on the same question (53 percent/45 percent) and independents are actually negative by 4 points on whether this characteristic applies to Bush (46/50).

Americans are also convinced that Bush is "too tied to special interests": by 17 points, (55 percent to 38 percent) they say that description applies to Bush and independents endorse that judgement by 24 points (58 percent to 34 percent). Kerry, however, has more saying that description doesn't apply to him (42 percent) than say it does (31 percent).

Almost half the public (47 percent) now says "too extreme in his political views" applies to Bush, while 48 percent say that doesn't (independents are slightly more negative at 48 percent applies/46 percent doesn't apply). But only 29 percent say too extreme applies to Kerry, compared to 52 percent who say it doesn't.

Bush, of course, continues to have some areas of advantage over Kerry--being "a strong and decisive leader" and "can handle the war on terrorism"--but it is interesting to note that one of them is not being "likeable". By 68 percent to 28 percent, the public says that characteristic applies to Bush. But by 69 percent to 18 percent the public also says that characteristic applies to Kerry.

So, the public doesn't trust Bush much anymore and doesn't have the warm personal regard for him they once did. That means he'll increasingly have to sell his policies to the American public on their merits.

Judging from his recent efforts to do so, this is likely to be, shall we say, challenging. Very challenging.