Post-Libby Bush Approval Rating: 39%

Results from the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, conducted last night and today:

• Fifty-five (55) percent think Libby's indictment is a sign of wider problems with "ethical wrongdoing" in the White House.
• Forty-six (46) percent think the level of honesty and integrity has gone down rather than up in the Bush administration.
• The percentage of Americans who believe Bush has been successful at holding government to a high standard of ethics is only 34 percent. Clinton got better marks on this shortly before he left office than Bush did (not by much, but they were better).
• Bush's overall job approval rating is an anemic 39% -- the lowest of his presidency.

Unlike conservative bloggers, who have been calling the perjury charge "a mouse," and declaring that no crime was committed, 70 percent of the U.S. public think the charges are serious. A solid majority (55%) believe the indictment was based on facts, as opposed to 30% who think it was based on partisan politics. And here's the best paragraph in the entire article:

One thing you can't ever, ever do even if you're a regular person is lie to a grand jury," said Brad Morris, 48, a registered independent and a field representative for a lumber company who lives in Nashua, N.H. "But multiply that by a thousand times if you have power like [Libby had]. And if anybody wants to know why, ask Scooter. He's financially ruined; he'll be paying lawyers for the rest of his life."