Poll Positions

All the headlines on the new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll note that a majority of Americans now think the Iraq war was a mistake. Interesting yes, but not a big surprise given the recent news on the war coupled with good old American common-sense and bullshit detectors.

To my mind the more shocking news, certainly for President George Bush, is that somehow Sen. John Kerry is widely perceived to be the better man to handle the economy. Some 53 percent of respondents say Kerry is better on the economy compared to only 40 percent for Bush, a rare instance of the numbers clearly favoring one candidate over another. Worse still for Bush, 41 percent of respondents said that dealing with the economy was the most important thing for a president to do.

Evidence of a growing economy must not be visible to large numbers of voters and time is growing short for Bush to make his case that his tax cuts have, in fact, provided an economic boost.