WASHINGTON — The arrest of terror suspects in London has helped buoy President Bush to his highest approval rating in six months and dampen Democratic congressional prospects to their lowest in a year.
In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, support for an unnamed Democratic congressional candidate over a Republican one narrowed to 2 percentage points, 47%-45%, among registered voters. Over the past year, Democrats have led by wider margins that ranged up to 16 points.
Now 42% of Americans say they approve of the job Bush is doing as president, up 5 points since early this month. His approval rating on handling terrorism is 55%, the highest in more than a year.
The boost may prove to be temporary, but it was evidence of the continuing political power of terrorism.
"The arrests reminded people that terrorists were out there, and this is his strong suit," says political scientist Gary Jacobson of the University of California, San Diego. Now, as in 2002 and 2004, Bush and GOP congressional candidates argue that they can be better trusted to combat terrorism.
James Joyner has more:
If one looks at the detailed results, the numbers are actually even better for the GOP. USAT reported the registered voter sample in the piece but they also did a likely voter screen, which they dub “Regular Voters” which they “defined as registered voters who say they ‘always vote’ and who say they voted in the last mid-term election.” In that sample, the GOP was tied 48-48 with the Dems, after trailing 42-50 the previous iteration (28-30 July).
This is exactly why Democrats have to downplay the threat of Islamic terrorism. It's why they try to insinuate that terror alerts and arrests are political ploys by the Bush administration to keep Americans scared. It's why they have to push the idea that the war in Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror. It's why they have to mislead the American public on national security in general.
Democrats complain about Republicans trying to promote a "culture of fear," yet who is really trying to keep Americans scared? Given the rhetoric about how Bush has failed us in the war on terror, etc. ,etc. I'd say it's really the Democrats who are trying to scare people. Unfortunately, when the terror issue is put in front of American faces, they seem to feel safer with President Bush/Republicans in charge.
And for good reason too, I think. All the Democrats have done in recent years with regard to the war on terror is oppose everything President Bush is doing. They oppose NSA efforts to track communications between terrorists. They oppose the Treasury Department's efforts to track terror financing. They oppose the aggressive interrogation tactics used against terror detainees in Guantanamo Bay. They oppose efforts to fight against and topple the regimes in the middle east that sponsor terrorism and promote the oppression that causes Islamic extremism.
Is it any wonder that national security is a weak issue for Democrats? If the Dems didn't have the media as allies in downplaying the threat of terrorism and mischaracterizing world events from terror events to the war in Iraq the political landscape would be much, much different.