Mark Blumenthal is invaluable as always. 58 percent now disapprove of Bush’s handling of Katrina, up from 12 percent in the early days. 80 percent say the feds were too slow. More blame the feds than the locals (but they rightly don’t spare them either). Money quote:
Where the President has taken a serious hit on the CBS poll (though not necessarily just in the last week) is in perceptions of him as a strong leader and crisis manager. Right now, roughly half of Americans (48%) agree that Bush “has strong qualities of leadership,” down from 64% a year ago. Right now only 32% express “a lot” of confidence in George W. Bush’s ability to handle a crisis (19% express “some” confidence). In the weeks after 9/11, 66% had a lot of confidence in Bush, 24% some. Note that these were the second and third questions on the CBS survey, asked before any mention of Hurricane Katrina.
But Bush’s support among Republicans remains high and his generic approval rating hasn’t budged much. The country is polarized, and Republicans so wedded to the president, that he may never go below 40 percent approval, regardless of what he does or does not do. I’d love to know how Independents have shifted, if at all. More here.
The Dish 