A Crumbling Foundation?

AP: Katrina Raises Voters' Doubts About Bush---

WASHINGTON - Hurricane Katrina and the bungled government response have weakened President Bush, raising questions among Americans about his Iraq and flood-recovery plans and spreading fears among fellow Republicans about next year's elections.

An AP-Ipsos poll says nearly six in 10 people disapprove of Bush's job performance, unchanged from the record-low rating he had before last week's televised address from the heart of New Orleans.

That underscores why GOP leaders fear Bush could be a drag on GOP candidates in 2006.
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With nearly all Democrats and two-thirds of independents soured on his presidency, Bush needs to keep Republican voters happy to avoid a collapse of his ratings. More than eight in 10 Republicans back Bush, but GOP strategists worry about a decline in enthusiasm as the next year's midterm elections draw near.

For the first time, senior Republican consultants and lawmakers are warning the White House that Bush's base is perilously close to deserting him. The poll underscores their concerns: By an 8-point margin, voters are more likely to call themselves Democrats than Republicans; there was no gap in self-identification a year ago.

I haven't been very happy with the President lately. I wouldn't vote Democrat, but I can't imagine giving any money to the RNC for the next elections. I haven't seen anything very Conservative happening in Washington, DC. Nominating one probably conservative to the Supreme Court is not going to mollify me. We worked too hard to get Republican majorities into the House and Senate and re-elect a Republican President. They owe us and we expect to receive what was promised to us: a Conservative administration that made government smaller, cut spending by huge amounts, and brought the country back to rights.

Alas, we have a Republican administration that has made government much bigger, spent more than the Democrats, and angered everyone in the country in turns.

President Bush better start remembering why he's there . . . and who put him there.