A conservative blogger writes:
George W. Bush isn’t at 29 percent because he’s lost support among moderates and liberals – he’s at 29 percent because he has been too willing to cave in to moderates and liberals.
The recipe for restoring his popularity to above 50 percent is simple: Bush must screw the Left every chance he gets.
The premise is facially misleading. When Bush was at the mid-30’s, most conservatives were on his side. So although the dip to 29% can be attributed in part to conservatives leaving the reservation, his low approval numbers are primarily because of disenchantment by liberals and moderates of both political parties, as well as independents.
And it’s not because of immigration. People of all political stripes are abandoning Bush for the same reasons that liberals rejected him years ago: Iraq.
The latest ABC/WaPo poll confirms this. By nearly a four-to-one margin over the next highest reason given, those who opposed Bush do so due to Iraq (46% Iraq, 12% just a bad job overall). Only 2% said it was because of immigration:
3. (IF DISAPPROVE) Why do you say so – what’s the main reason?
5/15/06 War in Iraq 46 Doing a bad job overall 12 Economy 9 Disagree with him on issues overall 7 Gasoline prices 5 Dishonest/not truthful 5 Doesn't care about average people 3 Don't like him personally 2 Immigration issues 2 Doing a bad job on terrorism/hasn't caught Osama bin Laden 1 Environmental issues 1 Favors the rich 1 Republican * Not protecting privacy/civil rights * Other 5 No opinion 1
So while many conservatives are passionate about the immigration issue, it seems like most of America, including most conservatives, aren’t latching on to it, or at least not blaming Bush for it.
The poll has other good news: Democrats were preferred to handle every issue over Republicans, even the campaign against terrorism. Who would have thought it possible a few years ago?
Speaking of illegal immigration, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has fessed up that his grandparents may have been illegal immigrants.