OK, sifting through polls can drive you crazy (and it’s often a waste of time, as some readers have, er, forcefully noted). But on the heels of that gruesome ARG poll, the fact that the Harris Poll now shows Bush hitting an all-time low of 40 percent suggests something real is happening. Especially when you consider that Bush has now dropped three points, to 45 percent, in that Rasmussen poll which had recently been a ray of light for him.
Bush’s current stay-the-course speechifying tour is intended to stop this bleeding. But when even erstwhile allies like David Frum are complaining that “President Bush’s words on the subject of Iraq have ceased connecting with the American public,” it’s hard to see how repeating the same old soundbites, even with precise casualty figures empathetically thrown in, will do the trick.
P.S. Note Frum’s comment that he’s been flooded with emails — from National Review readers, remember — agreeing with him. Republicans are nearing a state of panic over Iraq.