How's this for some pre-State of the Union spin -- a huge majority of Americans don't approve of George Bush and even more don't want him to set the nation's agenda according to the latest NBC/WSJ poll:
The survey, which was conducted from Jan. 26-29 of 1,011 adults and which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, shows Bush’s approval rating at 39 percent, which is unchanged from last month’s NBC/Journal poll. (Other recent national surveys have shown his approval rating to be slightly higher, in the low 40s.) In addition, only 25 percent say they want to see Bush take the lead role in setting policy for the country, while 49 percent say they prefer Congress.And despite the massive p.r. campaign by the entire White House apparatus, Bush hasn't picked up any ground on the domestic spying issue:
On the politically charged subject of domestic wiretapping, 51 percent approve of the administration’s use of these wiretaps — without a court order — to monitor the conversations between al-Qaida suspects and those living in the United States, compared with 46 percent who disapprove. However, 56 percent say they’re concerned that such wiretaps could be misused and could violate a person’s privacy.And in their gut, most Americans know that Bush and his crew probably misused those wiretaps.
