44 PERCENT

That’s the approval rating for the president in the new NYT/CBS poll. And the wrong-track number is now at 59 percent. Yes, the poll shows a tie for president. But these underlying numbers must be very worrying for the White House. On the other hand, if the public thinks things are this bad and still aren’t breaking decisively for Kerry, what does that say about the challenger? I think we’d all prefer different choices, wouldn’t we? But this is the one we’ve got.