Vulnerable, that’s what. Here’s some data from a CBS News poll released on August 29. Bush’s overall job approval is at 53 percent among independents, drops to 44 percent on foreign policy (with 43 percent disapproval) and then collapses to 32 percent on the economy (with a stunning 58 percent disapproval).
On the war with Iraq, just 43 percent of independents now say the result of the war was worth its costs, while 49 percent think the result wasn’t worth the costs. And only 42 percent believe the US is in control of events taking place in Iraq, compared to 50 percent who say we aren’t. Note that these data were collected before the car bombing in Najaf on Friday that killed 125 people, including the relatively moderate Shiite cleric, Mohammed Bakir Hakim.
Finally, a mere 17 percent of independents think the threat of terrorism against the US has been decreased as a result of the war with Iraq. That number is dwarfed by the 30 percent who believe the threat of terrorism has increased and the 51 percent who believe the threat has remained the same.
An independent voter who doesn’t feel safer, who doesn’t feel the war was worth the costs and who thinks the Iraq situation is spinning out of control is an independent voter that Bush is on the verge of losing. More proof, if proof were needed, that Democrats shouldn’t be hugging Bush on the national security issue, they should be going after him.