According to SurveyUSA, President Bush is now at a 42% approve/52% disapprove rating in Virginia, down from 49% approve/46% disapprove in June. In other words, Bush has gone from PLUS 3 to MINUS 10 in just the past two months. Ouch!By the way, for the country as a whole, Bush is at 41% approve/55% disapprove, with a positive rating in only 10 states, all of which went strongly for Bush in 2004.
Obviously, this is not good news for Republicans in Virginia heading into November 2005. It's also ominous for Republicans nationwide in November 2006. What's going to turn this around for the President and for the Republican Party? Iraq? The economy? The "war on terror?" Social issues like stem cells and Terri Schiavo? Oil prices? Bush staying on vacation forever? Divine intervention? Increasingly, it's looking like the last option may be the only hope.
P.S. For those who have wondered why I focus at times on national issues, it's because you can't separate them from Virginia issues. We're all one country, and we're all interconnected. Plus, Jerry Kilgore has been embraced and endorsed by national Republican leaders, most recently President Unpopular. Why shouldn't I point out that Kilgore, Bush, DeLay, and Frist are all connected in the same, failed ideology of "trickle down" and "bomb 'em all to hell?"