Bush's Approval Drops In A Poll

To my surprise, President Bush's approval rating has fallen in the latest CBS Poll, taken after the death of Al-Zarqawi. In the two other polls I've seen following his death, Bush's approval rating had either improved or held steady. It increased from 29% to 33% in the Harris Poll and held steady at 40% in the Rasmussen Report. But, in the latest CBS Poll, Bush's approval has dropped from 35% to 33%. So, amazingly, he's risen a combined 2% in these three polls, averaging approximately a 35% approval between the three.

Also, in this poll, Bush's rating for how he's handling the war in Iraq stayed steady at 33%. According to the poll, more Americans believe that violence will increase in Iraq following Al-Zarqawi's death than decrease: 30% believe it'll increase, 16% believe it'll decrease, and 50% believe it'll stay the same.

Americans also believe that there's a higher chance for an increased terror threat to the U.S. following Zarqawi's death than a decreased one: 22% think it'll increase, 13% believe it'll decrease, and 61% think it'll stay the same.

With this new information, I wonder what Bush and company's next plan will be to potentially aid Republicans in the mid-term elections. I can think of two things: 1) Reveal that Bin Laden is dead (has been for over four years) or 2) Withdraw some troops. Another terrorist attack could benefit them as well, but I truly hope that doesn't happen. One move I'm unsure on how it'll affect Bush and the Republicans is the Iran situation. Will people hop on board with the president if he declares war on Iran or, because of the war in Iraq, will more people stay at the sideline, not as willing to go back into the game, even at the shout of the false dilemma, "You're either with us or against us?"

Link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/12/opinion/polls/main1703346.shtml