A new CBS News poll is absolutely atrocious news for President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Believe it or not, the President's "favorable" rating is now only 33% ("unfavorable" is at 51%), his worst rating ever and close to Nixonian lows. Dick Cheney, meanwhile, racks up a stellar 19% approval/44% disapproval rating. Ouch!Also bad news for the Bush Administration is that 86% of Americans believe the Valerie Plame case is of "great importance" (51%) or "some importance" (35%) to the nation. This is very similar to levels seen in the midst of the Watergate crisis. A strong majority (62%) of Americans also believe that someone in the Bush Administration leaked the name of Plame, a covert CIA operative.
There's more to this poll, none of it good news for the Bush Administration, or for his close political allies. No wonder why Jerry Kilgore had a "scheduling conflict" when Bush was in Virginia a week ago!