36% (FoxNews)... But It's Hard Work

The Chimp in Winter (Now a Long Hot Summer)

Haven't done one of these in awhile, and it was looking like things might be stabilizing for Dear Leader, especially post Zarqawi. But it's looking like the public might be starting to see through the "happy happy joy joy" spin the BushCo Admin has been putting on their Iraq messaging as well as the news splashes of aspirational (at best) terrorist threats. From FoxNews:

The president’s approval rating dropped to 36 percent, down from 41 percent approval two weeks ago and 40 percent in mid-June. Bush lost ground this week among some key constituent groups, such as Republicans, whites and men. Overall, 53 percent of Americans say they disapprove.

"It is important to remember that the president got his bounce after the killing of al-Zarqawi in Iraq," comments Opinion Dynamics Chairman John Gorman. "While administration officials were careful not to overplay the significance of this, it naturally created hope that things would get better. Several weeks of bloody footage from Iraq have pretty much dashed those hopes."

But this being FoxNews, they couldn't just let those sagging numbers be.

Despite the negative views on the job he’s doing, Americans believe President Bush has had a tough job assignment. A 61 percent majority — including 48 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of independents and 75 percent of Republicans — thinks Bush has had to face a larger number of difficult situations than most presidents deal with during their terms in office.