Ouch.
But this is better news for Dubya.
Here's the lead WaPo story.
You know, I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to polls.
For instance, how can this be right?
The president is viewed as a stronger leader than Kerry and as the candidate who can be most trusted in a crisis. He is also seen as best able to "make the country safer and more secure" and the one who "takes a position and sticks with it."
But by 52 percent to 39 percent, Kerry is seen as more honest and trustworthy -- a troubling finding for Bush, whose truthfulness before the war in Iraq has been called into question.
The two bolded parts appear a bit contradictory, don't they?
Here's the specific polling data:
1) Kerry more honest; BUT
2) Bush can be trusted more in a crisis...
Hmmmm....work that one out for me? My guess:
Bush is seen a strong, principled leader--but all the (mostly hyped) stories about how Bush ginned up al-Q/Saddam links have hurt him (ed. note: If so many Americans think they were misled on this score; someone please explain this poll result to me?)
Again, lies, damn lies, and statistics.
So you throw in a good dollop of media stories about all the space between avuncular Tom Kean/Lee Hamilton and messianic 'damn the evidence' Dubya and Cheney--you get a disconnect where most Americans (over 60%) believe or suspect Saddam had cooperated with al-Q historically--but a full 48% nevertheless believe they were misled on said alleged links.
How about the critical economy?
Well, are you better off than you were 4 years ago?
Well yeah, or at least the same ....
Not bad given one of the most absurd bubbles in financial history had just popped as Dubya came into office.
And, importantly, it appears most people think the economy is going to be on an uptick going forward.
So here's the deal folks.
Pretty much, people are evenly split on whether Bush or Kerry would handle the war on terror better (48% Kerry to 47% Bush).
But by a margin of 54% to 40% people think Bush will make the country safer and more secure (second link at top of post).
And Bush beats Kerry on having a "clear plan" on terrorism 55% to 42%.
More Americans trust Bush in a crisis (but perhaps trust Kerry more during quotidian times?) (again, per above links)
More Americans think Bush has a clear plan for Iraq than they believe Kerry does (48% to 42%).
Oh, and this strikes me as important.
So tell me, please, why does the WaPo headline blare: "Bush Loses Advantage in War on Terrorism"?
Just asking.
P.S. Not a sole query on Abu Ghraib? All Lottian insouciance, I reckon, even amongst the pollsters and the great public....
UPDATE: Jon Henke and Robert Tagorda have more on this. Tagorda's post has an interesting take on why the WaPo's unnuanced lede (the 21% drop in Bush's war on terror approval rating) has occurred.