Gallup: Bush less trusted than Clinton

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Gallup. 11/11-13. (10/28-30 results)

Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

Approve 37 (41)
Disapprove 60 (56)

Holy cow -- the guy is still falling. This poll shows a net -8 in the last two weeks alone.

But here's the most surprising nugget of all:

A 53% majority say they trust what Bush says less than they trusted previous presidents while they were in office.

In a specific comparison with President Clinton, those surveyed by 48%-36% say they trust Bush less.

If that doesn't set off the tornado sirens around the White House, I don't know what will. Jeez -- for Republicans, Clinton is the gold-standard of untrustworthiness.

Now here's the thing: this is actually good news for Bush if he does something about it -- fire Rove, clean house, bring in fresh faces, get a new chief of staff, something. Anything. Democrats would be hard-pressed to rail against a President during the midterm election campaign if POTUS did these things NOW, in late 2005.

In short, gangrene has set in and the patient is resisting surgery -- always a bad sign.