The deep unpopularity of an unpopular president

Posted by Melissa McEwan at 11:30 AM on April 25, 2006.

Bob Geiger, looking at state-by state-approvals of Bush, finds that his slide may actually be deeper than any one poll shows. In just the 18 months since his reelection, the map has gone from 31 red states to just four: Utah (55%), Wyoming (54%), Idaho (53%), and Nebraska (51%), which collectively comprise "barely two percent of the 296.5 million people in the United States based on a July 2005 Census Bureau estimate."

What's also interesting is to see which states are abandoning Bush to the greatest degree. When measured by what percentage vote they gave Bush in 2004 compared to the latest approval ratings, here are the states in which the president has lost the most support:

-- Kentucky (-21%)
-- Indiana (-21%)
-- North Dakota (-20%)
-- Montana (-20%)

And there are many other states not far behind, where the unpopular president has lost between 15 and 19 percent of his support.

...[I]n case you're wondering how he's doing back in the Lone Star State, Bush is clinging to a dismal 45 percent approval rating in his home state, with 17 percent loss of support since 2004.

At this rate, he may not even be able to go back home to Crawford after he's impeached.

Not good news for the embattled prez...which makes this piece by John Dean all the more chilling. Finding that Bush falls into the James Dave Barber-defined category of an "active/negative," and bearing in mind that he must feel like a cornered rat on the sinking ship that is his administration, Dean predicts that "As the 2006 midterm elections approach, this active/negative president can be expected to take further risks."

If anyone doubts that Bush, Cheney, Rove and their confidants are planning an "October Surprise" to prevent the Republicans from losing control of Congress, then he or she has not been observing this presidency very closely.

What will that surprise be? It;s the most closely held secret of the Administration.

How risky will it be? Bush is a whatever-it-takes risk-taker, the consequences be damned.

Melissa McEwan writes and edits the blog Shakespeare's Sister.