Washington Times slams Bush

Today's headline, front-page above the fold, in the Reverend Moon's right-wing mouthpiece says it all, "Bush 'sank' GOP in Virginia":

President Bush's sinking popularity helped seal Democrat Timothy M. Kaine's victory in Virginia's gubernatorial election Tuesday, politicians and pollsters said yesterday.

"We know that George Bush is just killing us," said Delegate David B. Albo, a Republican who narrowly defeated his Democratic challenger in Fairfax County. "His popularity just brought the ticket down. There's no other way to explain it."

The rats are leaving a sinking ship. They're blaming Bush, their fearless leader, for all their political troubles. It is amazing to see a reliable GOP cheerleader, like the Washington Times, eviscerate the President so blatantly. But they are reading the polls and it is scaring them:

Scott Rasmussen, president of the New Jersey-based polling firm Rasmussen Reports, said the voters who made up their minds just before Election Day -- about 12 percent of voters -- favored Mr. Kaine by 15 percentage points.

That suggests some voters were turned off by a last-minute visit by Mr. Bush on Monday on Mr. Kilgore's behalf. A Rasmussen survey of Virginia voters found that 51 percent approved of the president's performance. Nationally, Mr. Bush has registered a 37 percent approval rating.

"It was not a good year to run as a Republican in Virginia," said Mark Rozell, a public policy professor at George Mason University, adding that the Bush visit "probably backfired" and spurred Democrats to get out the vote.

What's more, the Rasmussen survey found that Mr. Kaine won 22 percent of the Republican vote.

Watch the GOP leaders in Congress try to ditch their President now. We can't let them. They own Bush and his policies and that is what 2006 has to be about.