This new CBS News/New York Times poll nicely captures the political contours of the next two years. The essence is clear and provides an equivocal message for both parties: the Republican issue agenda isn’t particularly popular; President Bush is.
Just what that means for Democrats trying to retake Congress or the White House I’m not precisely sure. One thing it does point up is the importance of how hard congressional Republicans and the White House try to push an ideological agenda. The temptation to do so will be great. And I suspect it’s one they’ll quickly succumb to.
That could make the White House rue the day they took back unified control of the federal government. Of course, it’s not like everything’s a bowl of cherries for the Democrats as long as President Bush can remain so popular even as his agenda is one most Americans don’t agree with.
The best angle for Democrats would be to pry at the disjuncture between those two numbers rather than to hit the president head-on.
