Bush Polls ... Ouch

The president has long said that he doesn't pay any attention to polls. Now we know why. With approval ratings comparable to no other second-term president in recent history save Richard Nixon (and Bush's, for the moment, are lower for the same period), Bush could certainly do with a significant course correction if he wants to recover some lost ground among the American people.

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that "For the first time in his presidency a majority of Americans question the integrity of President Bush, and growing doubts about his leadership have left him with record negative ratings on the economy, Iraq and even the war on terrorism." Just 39% of respondents say they approve of Mr. Bush's job, while 60% disapprove. Among independents, his approval rating has dropped to 33%, down from 49% in January.

The full results of the poll are here, along with some of the trends.

Mr. President, I'm not sure that you will ever be able to regain the trust of many Americans, myself included. But I know you don't have even the slightest chance of doing so if you do nothing but stick to your warped "stay the course" mentality. That's only sending you deeper into the depths of despairing disapproval ... and frankly there's not very much ground there left to cover!