Bush's Low Ratings

It's Drudge's main link, as if it's near earth-shattering.

But here's an excerpt from Bloomberg News:

Seventy-one percent of Americans said the country is on the wrong track, up from 46 percent in an April 2003 poll, the month after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. A majority of those polled this month don't approve of how Bush is handling the Iraq war, terrorism or the economy.

Bush, who addresses the nation before a joint session of Congress tomorrow, will face many members of his own party who blame him for Republicans' losing majority control of the House and Senate in the November 2006 midterm elections.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush's State of the Union speech will focus on issues including the Iraq war, energy independence, health-care, immigration and education.

His approval numbers aren't going to get much better if he talks about his "guest worker program," or how some tax modifications are going to provide affordable healthcare, or how we are winning Iraq, like we have been for the last three years.

Bush is going to have to come off really strong, really hardcore-conservative, really goddamned stubborn, really goddamned tough. Why? If he wants any say in what gets done in Washington, he's going to need political capital, and frankly, he gets the exact opposite when he tries to be the uniting moderate figure.

Bush must step up the rhetoric for the base, so he can work with the Democrats behind the scenes. But don't bet on that happening.