He just doesn't have much else to run on. The latest Gallup poll finds economic optimism plummeting, with only 44 percent saying the economy is getting better, down from 53 percent in mid-February, which was down from 66 percent in early January.

This isn't what's supposed to be happening when the economy is growing at a decent rate. But it is. The typical voter just doesn't like where this economy is going and how this recovery has proceeded. That's why a recent front-page article in The Wall Street Journal was headlined "Improving Economic Signals May No Longer Deliver Votes". The GDP growth rate doesn't do much good with voters if good jobs seem to be disappearing, benefits are being cut and wages are stagnating.

As the WSJ article puts it:

[B]asic changes in the way the economy works have created a new political equation this year, loosening the old links between prosperity and a president's popularity.

And the article presents anecdotal evidence that this changed equation is reflected in the anti-Bush leanings of swing voters in West Virginia, Pennsylvanian and Ohio. As 2000 Bush voter and self-described conservative Chuck Svokas of Weirton, WV puts it, Bush "doesn't look like he has a grasp of what needs to be done for the American economy". He says he'll vote for Kerry this year.

That's an anecdote, but the latest CBS News/New York Times poll has hard data on the deep economic hole Bush is in with voters. His approval rating on the economy is at 38 percent, with 54 percent disapproval. That's his second straight sub-40 economic rating in this poll. Only 28 percent say the economy is getting better (note that this question includes a "staying the same" option and is therefore not directly comparable to the Gallup rating). Only 14 percent believe that Bush administration policies have increased the number of jobs in the US. Only one-fifth say the nation's economy is better today than when Bush took office and the same low number say their family is financially better off today than it was when he took office.

People also say they are uneasy (57 percent) rather than confident (39 percent) in Bush's ability to make the right decisions about the economy. In addition, just 39 percent say that if Bush is re-elected he is likely to increase the number of jobs and just 30 percent think the economy will get better if he gets re-elected.

Not exactly a vote of confidence. No wonder Bush's current campaign slogan is "I'm a war leader". Saying he's a leader on the economy wouldn't even pass the laugh test.