The Associated Press is out with a new poll with bad news on Social Security for Bush:
As President Bush campaigns to change Social Security, he needs to win over independents, married women and Southerners - people who tend to support him on terrorism but have indicated doubts about his plans for the retirement program.The White House has made Social Security the top priority this year. Yet the more Bush talks about it, the less support he gets. You know times are tough in the White House when the big guy has to take his dog and pony show on the road to convince Republican as the New York Times reported today:
Just over a third of Americans, 37 percent, approve of Bush's handling of Social Security, an Associated Press poll found. When it comes to Bush's strong suit - handling foreign policy and terrorism - 52 percent approve of the president.
A majority of Americans, 56 percent, say they disapprove of Bush's handling of Social Security. A similar number in a recent AP poll opposed the creation of personal investment accounts, a proposal central to Bush's plans.
The war on terrorism was the principal theme of Bush's re-election campaign, but in the early days of his second term he has focused on Social Security. Some polls indicate he's been losing ground on that issue.
When President Bush began barnstorming on behalf of his Social Security plan last month, his goal at many stops was to convince Congressional Democrats that backing his call for individual investment accounts would be good politics. He is still trying to flex his political muscle to that end, but in a sign of the trouble he faces on the issue, he is increasingly using his travels to buck up - or even win over - members of his own party.There is a lesson here for the Democrats. It's good to act like the opposition party. This p.r. campaign by Bush will insure that he and his party are now inextricably linked to the campaign to destroy Social Security.
