Bush Polls

Mr. 27% Meets Mr. 70%

Bob Fertik — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:50:21 -0500

As Obama meets Bush, Americans can't wait to send Bush to Texas and bring Obama to DC (h/t Amanda Terkel).

As TPM reader DG quipped, "I can't believe Obama is already sitting down with an unpopular, aggressive world leader without preconditions."

Update 1: CNN has Bush's approval down to 24%.

Most. Hated. Ever.

Bob Fertik — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:01:00 -0400

For most of the Bush Administration, we were told that our hatred of Bush was a form of mental illness. Well if it is, it's awfully contagious! Here's USA Today:

Bush's disapproval rating worst of any president in 70 years

By Susan Page
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.

The previous record of 67% was reached by Harry Truman in January 1952, when the United States was enmeshed in the Korean War.

So what does the White House Spokesliar say?

"The president understands war and the slowdown in the economy weigh down public opinion, but the situation in Iraq is improving, and the economy is about to get a big boost from the stimulus package," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

I'm sure that idiotic response just drove Bush's disapproval up to 70%.

SOTU Bounce? I Don't Think So, Bush at Another All Time Low

CactusPat — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:31:47 -0500

So much for the corporate mediawhores attempts to boost Smirk's poll ratings with all the fawning and boot-licking about his "great" speech. Most encouraging finding - -58% simply want the Bush Cabal gone, for good...

Bush Hits New Low
A Sorry State - Following his State of the Union address, President Bush’s approval rating hits a new low in the NEWSWEEK poll...(read it and rejoice!, on the flip...)
Jan. 27, 2007 - pResident George W. Bush concluded his annual State of the Union address this week with the words “the State of our Union is strong … our cause in the world is right … and tonight that cause goes on.” Maybe so, but the state of the Bush administration is at its worst yet, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll. The president’s approval ratings are at their lowest point in the poll’s history—30 percent—and more than half the country (58 percent) say they wish the Bush presidency were simply over, a sentiment that is almost unanimous among Democrats (86 percent), and is shared by a clear majority (59 percent) of independents and even one in five (21 percent) Republicans. Half (49 percent) of all registered voters would rather see a Democrat elected president in 2008, compared to just 28 percent who’d prefer the GOP to remain in the White House.

Public fatigue over the war in the Iraq is not reflected solely in the president’s numbers, however. Congress is criticized by nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of Americans for not being assertive enough in challenging the Bush administration’s conduct of the war. Even a third (31 percent) of rank-and-file Republicans say the previous Congress, controlled by their party, didn’t do enough to challenge the administration on the war.

The New Numbers: Inside the Poll

Still, the new poll, which examined the preferences of registered Democrats for their party’s presidential nomination in 2008, shows that Sen. Hillary Clinton, an initial supporter of the war, has a 20-point lead over junior Sen. Barack Obama (55 percent to 35 percent) and a 34-point lead over former Sen. John Edwards (63 percent to 29 percent). Obama has a marginal seven-point lead over Edwards (46 percent to 39 percent). On the other side of the aisle, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain are closely matched at this point among Republicans: the mayor is preferred over the Arizona Senator by a statistically insignificant margin of 48 percent to 44 percent. When each GOP frontrunner is matched up against former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, it is no contest. Giuliani beats Romney by 55 points and McCain outpolls him by 50.

With about half (48 percent) of voters nationwide saying their opinion of Bush will be at least “somewhat important” in determining who gets their vote in ’08, the two Democratic frontrunners have narrow leads over their potential opponents. In a mock election, Clinton tops McCain by six points (50-44 percent) and barely edges out Giuliani by three (49-46 percent). Obama’s lead over both McCain and Giuliani is by the exact same margins (48-42 percent against the former and 47-44 percent against the latter). The races are tighter with Edwards as the Democratic candidate: the former vice presidential candidate edges out McCain by four points (48-44 percent) and is in a statistical dead heat with Giuliani (46-47 percent).

With Bush widely viewed as an ineffectual “lame duck” (by 71 percent of all Americans), over half (53 percent) of the poll's respondents now say they believe history will see him as a below-average president, up three points from last May. The first time this question was asked, in October 2003, as many people thought Bush would go down in history as an above average president as thought we would be regarded as below average (29 to 26 percent). Only 22 percent of those polled think Bush's decisions about Iraq and other major policy are influenced mainly by the facts; 67 percent say the president's decisions are influenced more by his personal beliefs. This perhaps explains why only about half (49 percent) of adult Americans even bothered to watch or listen to any of the State of the Union speech as it happened. Of those, less than half (42 percent) think his energy, health care and other domestic policy proposals are likely to be seriously considered by the new Democratic-controlled Congress. Overall, 61 percent are unsatisfied with the way things are going in America; just 30 percent are satisfied.

The NEWSWEEK poll, conducted Jan. 24-25, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. In conducting the poll, Princeton Survey Research Associates International interviewed 1,003 adults aged 18 and older.

© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.

Should Congress try to stop President Bush from deploying more U.S. troops in Iraq? * 50590 responses (vote online...)

Yes
80%

No
16%

Not sure
4%

Don't You Love the Smell of Propaganda in the Morning?

CactusPat — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 06:18:18 -0500

Ah yes, someone loves the the smell of propaganda in the morning. Looks like a series of three strategically placed propaganda stories point towards good old-fashioned fear-mongering to boost Bush's all time low poll ratings in the latest Newsweek, CBS, and NBC/WSJ surveys just prior to Dear MisLeader's State of the Dis-Union speech. One of the suspected fake reports appears aimed at garnering support for the impending hostilities with Iran. The multi-pronged PSYOP also seems aimed at not only boosting said all-time low support, but perhaps also to lend credence to lies Bush may deliver in tonight's address... (more)

Bob Fertik expounds at length on that angle, and exposes much of the trail left in the corporate media by the planting of the dubious Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq terror plot story.

Yes political sports fans, I smell propaganda in the morning. This is propaganda 101 as practiced by the Bush Occupation. Crude and stale as it may be, it will no doubt prove marginally effective as the corporate state mediawhores are freely doling out the misinformation of the illegitimate Bush Cabal. And you thought propagandizing the public by the US government was against the law....

First is the NBC Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq terror plot report, other corporate media versions are covered extensively here...

Captured intel reveals al-Qaida U.S. attack plan - Updated: 4:50 p.m. ET Jan 22, 2007
U.S. military and counter-terrorism officials have told NBC News that a recent U.S. raid on an al-Qaida safehouse in Iraq uncovered unspecific plans to conduct terrorist attacks outside Iraq — including the United States. Officials, however, told NBC that the plans were "pretty much generic," a "wish list" and something that "frankly, we've seen ... before."

The information revealed the desire of al-Qaida to conduct terrorist attacks in the U.S. and stated that al-Qaida operatives could conceivably use student visas to infiltrate the United States. Pentagon officials told NBC that Homeland Security and counterterrorism officials have been aware of that potential al-Qaida tactic for some time, emphasizing a continuing need to strengthen visa controls.

The information was first given to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in a hearing last week by Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. The information, however, was contained in a portion of his opening statement that was not read before the committee but submitted for the record, because Maples apparently felt there was not much new in it.

All the officials contacted by NBC News said that none of the documents contained any specific threats, targets, plans or timetables — but according to one official, they did demonstrate al-Qaida's "intent" to attack the United States.... (full report)

Next up is the BBC's report of a most conveniently timed release of an Al Qaeda terror tape from a heretofore unheard of "US anti-terrorism think tank"..

Last Updated: Monday, 22 January 2007, 23:52 GMT
Al-Qaeda deputy 'mocks Bush plan'
Al-Qaeda's deputy leader has mocked US President George W Bush's plan to increase Iraq troop numbers in a video message, according to a US website. In the tape, apparently intercepted by US-based terrorism think-tank Site, Ayman al-Zawahiri challenged Mr Bush to send "the entire army" to Iraq. "The Iraqi insurgents would "bury 10 armies like yours", he said. Earlier this month, Mr Bush announced the deployment of over 20,000 more troops in a bid to end the violence.

Site - a Washington-based organisation that analyses militant networks - posted the video and transcript on its website, but did not say how it obtained it.

In the tape - 14 minutes of footage with English subtitles - Zawahiri said that Mr Bush's strategy in Iraq was going to fail. "I ask him, why send 20,000 (troops) only - why not send 50,000 or 100,000?" he said. "Aren't you aware that the dogs of Iraq are pining for your troops' dead bodies?"

He said that al-Qaeda and the Taleban were regaining control in Afghanistan, and called on all Muslims to bear arms or support those bearing arms to defend Islam. The message is the first apparent reaction by al-Qaeda to Mr Bush's planned "surge" in Iraq. On 5 January, Zawahiri appeared in an audiotape posted on a website urging Somalia's Islamist militias to carry out attacks against Ethiopian troops.

Lastly but not leastly is the debunking of ~~phony~~ incorrect Reuters and AP reports claiming Iran kicked out the IAEA inspectors by Raw Story's Larisa Alexandrovna

UN nuclear watchdog disputes claim that Iran barred weapons inspectors
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is disputing claims that Iran has barred 38 nuclear inspectors from visiting the country, RAW STORY can reveal.

A Reuters report earlier today -- followed up by a report from AP -- sent shockwaves through the international community airing allegations that Iran had kicked out inspectors of the U.N. atomic watchdog organization. Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki posited that Iran had barred 38 inspectors with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

This, however, does not align with comments from the IAEA themselves. Shockingly, no comment from the agency appeared in either Reuters or AP's article.

"We are discussing with Iran its request for withdrawing the designation of certain safeguards inspectors," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in response to an email query from RAW STORY.

"It should be noted however," she added, "that there are a sufficient number of inspectors designated for Iran and the IAEA is able to perform its inspection activities in accordance with Iran's Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement."

Fleming did not say Iran had barred inspectors. She added, "Details of inspector designation is a confidential matter between the IAEA and the country concerned."

Sources within the IAEA told the German news agency that while the ban was not a normal daily occurrence, there were still 150 designated inspectors for Iran, and that other countries had also, on occasion, withdrawn designations. h/t ADS

update: Iran says still cooperating with IAEA

Bush Drops to Record Low of 28% - It's Impeachment Time!

Bob Fertik — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:29:28 -0500

Bush's approval rating is down to 28% in the latest CBS poll, while his disapproval rating hit 64%.

That is his lowest approval rating ever, beating his previous record of 29% in the 5/06 Harris Poll. It also beats his father's lowest rating (29%) and ties Carter.

Bush is just 5% ahead of Richard Nixon when he was forced to resign or be impeached. And he is 8% below Bill Clinton's lowest rating early in his first year (5/93); at this stage of his Presidency, Clinton's approval was near 70%.

Yet despite Bush's abysmal ratings, not one media pollster dares to ask about Impeachment. Why not? Because they all take their orders from Karl Rove. We've been demanding impeachment polls since 6/30/05, when Zogby found 42% support for impeachment, but the pollsters arrogantly refuse. The last impeachment poll by Newsweek (10/06) found a 51%-44% majority for impeachment. So let's write them one more time (use the printer-friendly version if you can't copy the emails below).

daniel.m.merkle@abc.com, newspolls@abc.com, ttompson@ap.org, wlester@ap.org, info@americanresearchgroup.com, evening@cbsnews.com, KAF@cbsnews.com, jeff.greenfield@cnn.com, wolf@cnn.com, bill.schneider@turner.com, info@edisonresearch.com, askfox@fox.com, comments@foxnews.com, rthomas@harrisinteractive.com, jgorman@opiniondynamics.com, david_wilson@gallup.com, darby_miller_steiger@gallup.com, david_moore@gallup.com, media_inquiries@gallup.com, rthomas@harrisinteractive.com, Info@harrisinteractive.com, timespoll@latimes.com, maristpoll@marist.edu, Mark.Murray@nbc.com, sheldon.gawiser@nbc.com, nightly@nbc.com, nytnews@nytimes.com, rich@nytimes.com, topurd@nytimes.com, adamnag@nytimes.com, letters@newsweek.com, Marcus.Mabry@newsweek.com, livingpolitics@aol.com, pcraighill@pewresearch.org, skeeter@pewresearch.org, info@people-press.org, pollinginstitute@quinnipiac.edu, Info@rasmussenreports.com, editor@surveyusa.com, spage@usatoday.com, rbenedetto@usatoday.com, editor@usatoday.com, wsjcontact@dowjones.com, morinr@washpost.com, balzd@washpost.com, ombudsman@washpost.com, abramowitz@washpost.com, newseditors@wsj.com, john.harwood@wsj.com

Ask them a simple question: why do you refuse to include an impeachment question in your regular polls, when a majority of Americans support Bush's impeachment?

Update 1: Et tu, Drudgus?

Dirge for Mr. 25 Percent

CactusPat — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 06:16:17 -0500

As presage for the certain disastrous events forthcoming, comes the dirge, in two parts. First is the sad news of at least twenty-seven deaths of US service personnel over the weekend in Iraq. Saturday alone saw twenty-five deaths announced, making it the third mostly deadly day since the start of Smirky's Disastrous MisAdventure(SDM). He has now ordered, at minimum, 3057 American troops to their deaths in this illegal war of aggression and occupation.

Part two indicates that the American public is roundly rejecting Bush's escalation of the war (before most have even heard of the deadly weekend). A new Newsweek poll shows Dear MisLeader remains at an all time low of 31% overall approval. More importantly , though, 68% oppose escalation, while only 25% support it. We'll just have to start referring to him as Mr. Twenty-five Percent... (more)

Some other numbers in the Newsweek poll are even more grim for death-dealer Bush.

...who received his lowest ratings so far for his handling of the war (24 percent) and terrorism (41 percent)... Nearly half of all respondents to the NEWSWEEK poll (45 percent) say they “strongly oppose” the plan. Nine in 10 Democrats (92 percent), 70 percent of independents and close to a third (31 percent) of Republicans disapprove.

Oh, but it gets even worse!

...Sixty-two percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. For the first time, more than half of the respondents (53 percent) disapprove of his approach to deterring terrorism. More than half of the public thinks he is not “honest and ethical” (54 percent) and lacks “strong leadership qualities” (57 percent). Just before the last election, 55 percent said Bush was honest and 63 percent saw him as a strong leader....

One more tidbit shows that we, the de-escalators, have more work to do...

...And while the public trusts Democrats more than Bush on Iraq policy, the NEWSWEEK poll found a 46-46 split on whether or not the Congress should try to block the additional funding Bush needs to pay for more troops in Iraq.

So let's get out there and keep changing minds.

Cut the funding!
Stop the War! Bring the Troops Home Now!
Impeach Bush and Cheney...

Annual Zogby Poll - Bush a failure, FDR the greatest

CactusPat — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:23:19 -0500

Roosevelt Continues to Dominate Presidential Greatness Scale

Annual Zogby International poll shows Bush’s ranking falls again; Ford’s rating more than doubles following his death in December

Franklin D. Roosevelt is back on top of the list of the greatest presidents of the modern era, returning to the highest ranking after Kennedy displaced him in last year’s survey, a new nationwide Zogby International telephone poll shows. Roosevelt has dominated Zogby’s Presidential Greatness survey since 1997 – only losing out to Kennedy in 2006 and 2002.

Roosevelt was rated “great” or “near great” by 78% of those surveyed, while 74% said they feel the same way about Kennedy. Both Roosevelt and Kennedy experienced slightly higher greatness rankings in this year’s poll – 71% ranked Roosevelt as great or near great last year compared to 73% who said they felt the same about Kennedy. The Zogby survey of 843 likely voters took place January 5-9, 2007, and contains a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points.

George W. Bush, who continues to struggle with dwindling job-performance numbers, trails Nixon as the modern president with the highest negative ranking – 50% of those surveyed place the current president at the low end of the scale compared to 40% who felt the same last year. Even though Nixon has the greatest overall negative rating (57%), Bush beats him out on the failure scale – 30% say Bush is a failure as a president, compared to 23% who feel that way about Nixon. Just 21% rated Bush as a great or near great president this year – those numbers have fallen steadily since his all-time high greatness rating of 63% in 2002, following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.... (full news release w/graph)

Mr. and Mrs. America buy a new car, and it's NOT an Augmentation

thepen — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 04:10:13 -0500

Tonight's alert is a little different, in the form of an humorous and entertaining (hopefully) story. If you have already called your members of Congress toll free at 800-828-0498, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803, to voice opposition to the Bush/Cheney escalation, please consider forwarding a link to this posting to all your friends.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.peaceteam.net/no_escalation2.php

Late this last fall, as November approached, Mr. and Mrs. America decided to go shopping for a new car. Almost from the day they had bought it six years earlier, their current car, a Liberator model, had been very unreliable. Its instruments were constantly telling them things they knew from their own senses to be untrue. The gas gauge would indicate empty when they had just topped up the tank, or the speedometer would show them at over the speed limit when parked in their driveway.

Worse yet, the only time it seemed to run strong was when headed off at breakneck speed for distant cities. And even there it had proven difficult to control, swerving wildly and always smashing into other cars there. Most of the time it behaved as if someone else were driving it. Repair and insurance costs were becoming shocking, even awesome, with no end in sight. In a word, it was too large, and ill-suited for doing the protection errands they really needed to do closer to home.

So it was that they set out to return to the dealership that sold them their Liberator. The salesman stepped forward as he saw them walking onto the lot. "We just got in all the new models." he enthused. Mr. America interrupted him. "The Liberator you sold us last time has given us nothing but problems . . . we've decided to downsize." The salesman countered, "But the new models are so POWERFUL, the ads are all over the TV newscasts. Take the new Escalation for example, everybody's going to want one." Mr. and Mrs. America both frowned. "The Escalation has a very bad reputation," said Mrs. America. "Our family bought one 40 years ago and it was a total disaster. We lost a family member in that one."

"Never mind," urged the salesman, "take a look at this one. It's another brand-new model called the Surge." The name sounded intriguing, and Mr. and Mrs. America were willing to look. But when they saw it they immediately reacted. "I don't think you're hearing us," spoke Mr. America, "we wanted something smaller, this one looks just like the Escalation to me." "But wait," interjected the salesman, "the deal is, it may LOOK like an increase in size now, but in a couple months when the factory has a smaller replacement vehicle ready, you can trade it in for what you really want." "Gee, I don't know," said Mrs. America hesitantly, "how do we know when the replacement model will actually be ready?"

The salesman seemed a bit less confident now and started to hem and haw. "Well you know, there are always unexpected delays in producing a new product, labor strikes, things like that. But our estimates are it shouldn't be more than a couple months, a year at the outside." Mr. and Mrs. America could not bear the thought of being stuck with an oversized clunker for another year. "No," said Mr. America, "we're definitely not going to go for the Surge."

By now the salesman was starting to sweat profusely. He knew that the boss had already committed the entire capital resources of the dealership to buy a fleet of new Escalations, together with Surges and all its other sub-models. They were taking delivery on them already on the back lot. And the word had come down that any salesman who did not push the new lines would be fired on the spot. So many dedicated, talented, experienced and hard-working career employees had been terminated already. "OK, OK," stammered the salesman. "I've got just the thing for you, here it is, it's called the Augmentation."

Mr. and Mrs. America were becoming increasingly annoyed, even angry. They could not for their lives tell the fundamental difference between this Augmentation and the other models the salesman had already tried to push on them. It was still too big for them and the one thing they knew for sure was that they wanted something smaller that would give them better service at home. They just shook their heads and started to walk off the lot.

The salesman came running after them in a panic. "How about a Boost? It's just a little Boost." he pleaded. "Is it smaller than the car we have now?", asked Mrs. America. "No," admitted the salesman, as his face turned increasingly red, "but the Boost is only a SUBCOMPACT increase in size." "We're not interested in anything you've got," asserted Mr. America firmly as Mrs. America also shook her head.

It was then that they noticed another dealership across the street, so they thought they'd give them a chance. They told the salesman there, "we are interested in a new car, something less unwieldy than what we have now, and everything we've seen so far has been just the opposite" "Yes, I know," said the salesman, "a lot of people are coming over to us for our flagship model, the Direction." On first glance the Direction appeared to be much more like what they were looking for. It was at least somewhat smaller, but they remained skeptical.

ACTION PAGE: http://www.peaceteam.net/no_escalation2.php

Mr. America asked, "If we buy this new Direction, do you promise to give us responsive service, and that it won't turn out to be the same kind of trouble we have now." "I promise," assured the salesman. "OK," sighed Mr. America, "we'll take the new Direction, but you better be telling us the truth." "Or else, we'll bring it right back again this time," added Mrs. America. And that's the story of how Mr. and Mrs. America bought a new car.

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours.

To be added to the list go to http://www.peaceteam.net/in.htm

Humpty Bushty Has Had a Great Fall

CactusPat — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:25:21 -0500

It took nine months for Poppy's wise men (Iraq Study Group) to come to conclusions on Smirk's IraqNam Quagmire. A hundred pages of BS, recommending everything, including the kitchen sink, to try and fix Jr.'s FU. What it boils down to is a twist on an old time riddle and rhyme -

Humpty Bushty sat on Iraq.

Humpty Bushty's Iraq suffered great attacks.

All of Poppy's wisemen and all Junior's yes-men

Can't put Humpty Bushty's IraqNam together again.

(more)

A perusal of the report and various news and commentary leads to no other conclusion, Iraq is FUBAR and a simplistic Mother Goose analogy is as good as any...

Speaking of falling.... If you hadn't noticed all the major polls of late have had Smirk's #'s in the toilet. Specifically Zogby's latest with Dear MisLeader at an all time low of 30% job approval, with 68% rating fair to poor.

Last week's monthly AP/IPSOS poll revealed even bigger trouble for the Smirkmeister. 33% job approval, tying for the lowest rating ever in that poll. But more ominous for Bush fans, only 14% strong approval, the lowest ever "strong" approval in the AP poll. His handling of the economy tied for second lowest at 38% approval. Plus lowest approval ever for domestic issues at 33%, lowest approval ever on foreign policy and the GWOT (Global War on Terror) at 35%, and lowest approval ever for handling of IraqNam Quagmire at 27% - w/71% disapproval.

In other words, the bastard pResidency George the Lesser is at it weakest, most vulnerable moment as the new democratic Congress is on the verge of assuming the reigns of power with intentions to investigate the myriad malfeasance of the Bush MisAdministration.

Let the hearings commence and IMPEACHMENT follow shortly thereafter!

Poppy Rides in to Save Junior's Ass

CactusPat — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 02:22:28 -0500

Newsweek gloms onto the sentiment expressed in MoDo's devestating "Daddy Moment" op-ed with a ball-licking Poppy propagrandizing look at the failed Bush #41 Presidency and how he's gonna ride in and save Junior's failed pResidency. With Dim-Son at a 31% all-time low in the latest post election Newsweek poll (he's now as unpopular as Cheney at 31%), rather than promote Poppy as Dim-Son's saviour (ergo the country's) as the wizzard behind the curtain, they might as well have Cheney resign, then have Junior name Poppy as VEEP before resigning himself, thereby putting Poppy in to finish up Dim-Son's failed #43 pResidency... Do they really think the public, and Republican electorate, are going buy into this BS and be comforted by the "magic" of Poppy Bush waving his magic wand and pulling on metaphysical levers?

Can Bush Sr. and His Team Save Son’s Presidency?
....Ask thy father, and he will show thee: advice that, at long last, George W. Bush seems to be taking. Last week the president lost both houses of Congress and 16 more Americans died in Iraq, bringing the U.S. death toll to 2,844, with little discernible progress in sight. The war there has now lasted 44 months, the amount of time that elapsed between Pearl Harbor and VJ Day....

In a conference room filled with commemorative shotguns in his Houston offices last Wednesday, the father settled in to watch his son's post-election press conference on TV. Lunching on pizza, Bush Senior listened as George W. Bush said the loss of Congress was a "thumping," promised to "work with" a commission on Iraq chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee Hamilton, and announced that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was resigning. Within two hours the president was in the Oval Office with Rumsfeld and his replacement: Robert M. Gates, Bush Senior's CIA director and the president of Texas A&M University, the home of Bush 41's presidential library.

In Houston the phones started ringing, and Bush 41 staffers were pulled away from their pizza. Reporters were calling and e-mailing: would 41 talk about 43's shake-up? The answer was no, though two perfunctory statements were issued (one for the College Station Eagle and one, as the former president put it, "for everybody else"). Still, the reality spoke for itself. Dad's team was back—a remarkable course correction in the political life of the son and, quite possibly, in the life of the nation.

The American people, as politicians like to say, spoke last week—and spoke in no uncertain terms. The 2006 vote does not suggest an eagerness for a sharp left turn. It seems, rather, to be a plea for a shift from the hard right of the neoconservatives to the center represented by the old man in Houston. The re-emergence of Iraq Study Group voices such as Baker, Gates and Alan Simpson—all longtime friends of Bush Senior—is not unlike the entrance of Fortinbras at the conclusion of "Hamlet." These are 41's men, and the removal of Rumsfeld—an ancient rival of Bush Senior's from the Ford days—is a move toward the broad middle. The apparent triumph of pragmatism over ideology on Iraq was welcome news, at least to the public. In the new NEWSWEEK Poll, 67 percent favor Bush Senior's internationalist approach to foreign policy over his son's more unilateral course...

You can read the rest, if you have the stomach for it....