Bush's Approval Rating Drops Again

George W. Bush's job approval rating has fallen sharply again, to 44%, after two previous Gallup polls conducted this month had him at 49%. Also, Bush's favorable rating has dropped to 48%: the first time that rating has fallen below 50% since Gallup began tracking it in 1999.

I don't feel much joy at this news, though, because America is still stuck with him for the next three-plus years. Considering how much (possibly irreparable) harm he's done to this country, knowing he has over three years to do even more is not a cheery thought.

Still, I'd feel a lot better if I knew that the Democrats had someone halfway decent waiting in the wings for 2008. If this is the best they can do, we're in for another four to eight years of either far-right-wing Republican policies, or half-assed, amateur Republican policies.

If there's anything we all should have learned from the past decade, it's that "centrist" presidents only lead to far-right Republican presidents. And spare me the revolting calls for "unity." They are no more acceptable coming out of Hillary Clinton's mouth than they are coming from George W. Bush. And Howard Wolfson's "clarification" -- "Her point was simply to say that the goals and issues that divide us are less consequential than are the ones we share in common, and that unity is needed in the face of our shared challenge" -- only made the sentiment more repugnant. That's exactly what Condi Rice and Dick Cheney were saying when Bush invaded first Afghanistan and then Iraq. It's "unity around MY agenda" Clinton wants, whether her agenda is progressive or not.