Sky Falls In on Bush 'The Outcast'

When president George W Bush launched a high-profile series of speeches last week aimed at calming nerves about the Iraq war he chose to do so in the heart of Washington DC. At George Washington University, he asked America to stay the course through troubled times. It was a familiar message to an audience that had heard it all before.

What was new was the make-up of the crowd: only five Republican congressmen and one senator attended. As displays of loyalty go it left a lot to be desired. It seems Bush should worry less about the US abandoning Iraq and more about his party abandoning him.

Tarnished by the war and a never-ending flow of domestic scandals, Bush is increasingly being seen as a liability to Republicans facing November's mid-term elections. Many of the party's senior members are distancing themselves from their President with a new willingness to disobey orders from the White House.

The reason for the change is simple: disastrous polls. Four published last week put Bush's approval ratings at historically low levels. Gallup and NBC gave him 36 per cent, while CBS had him at 34 per cent and Pew on an anaemic 33 per cent. 'When the President is above 50 per cent then party unity follows. When you sink into the thirties it is every man and woman for themselves,' said Larry Haas, a political commentator and former staffer in the Bill Clinton White House.

FULL STORY