Bush's latest approval rating...

[[AK]Sonic Boom]

...is now at the lowest of his presidency, 46%. Things aren't looking good for GWB.

Details here.

Just a FYI.

[[AK]Palooka]

Once the abuse scandal blows over, that number will go back up above 50%. Americans have extremely short attention spans and failing memories.

[[AK]Hylander]

The best thing GWB has going for him is John Kerry. I never thought I would see a Liberal who could make me consider a Clinton a lesser of two evils.

[[AK]Bribo]

Even with the "scandal" (and I hesitate to use that word as I don't think this issue is particularly scandalous) he picked up a percentage point over Kerry last week in a poll I read.

[[AK]Sonic Boom]

Currently Bush leads Kerry among likely voters 48% to 47%, while Kerry leads Bush among registered voters 50% to 44%. Although the poll among the likely voters represents a 2% gain over last week, it's still a statistical dead heat.

Where Bush appears to be in trouble is in the battleground states. Here's a link to the breakdown, although it may not work if you don't subscribe to Gallup. If you want to PM me, I'll send you my subscription info.

Interestingly, all five winning presidential incumbents since 1950 never had their approval rating drop below 50% after February of the election year. Also, no president has ever won with an approval rating below 50% in October. Bush's approval rating has been hovering between 49% and 52% since January.

[[AK]Bribo]

Regarding the "scandal" this is an interesting read from an Iraqi blogger and detailing his conversation with his friend who was a doctor who worked at the prison during the time that the alleged abuses took place.

[[AK]Squidly]

Bush widens lead

/me laughs at polls.

[[AK]Palooka]

Polls, especially this early in the race, are next to useless.

[[AK]Sonic Boom]

I, too, laugh at the polls. I have no idea who IBD/TIPP are, but I do like Gallup. They tell you exactly what questions were asked and they rotate the candidates order that they appear in the questions as well as giving detailed explanations about their methodology.

They even have comparison polls of the same question asked in different ways, which is interesting to see.

They also have interesting historical data, in the sense that they've asked the exact same questions since the 1950's, so you can see how various presidents stack up against each other. I also found it interesting that they've asked the same questions about every American conflict since Korea. I spent some time this morning looking at comparisons in public opinion between Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq 1, Afghanistan, and Iraq 2.

Since I don't watch television news (...you listening, Hylander? ) I've got to get my information somehow.

[[AK]Sonic Boom]

Originally posted by [AK]Palooka
Polls, especially this early in the race, are next to useless.

I agree that polls are usless at this stage. What aren't useless, however, are the trends that show the general direction things are going. (i.e. the direction and degree of change in the numbers.)

[[AK]Squidly]

Don't look at one poll or two polls. Look at all the polls then take a grain of salt and remind yourself that whatever conclusions you're drawing may be entirely wrong.