The Presidential Election is a year from now, and the President seems at risk to keep his job. Although Bush seems at risk, no Democrat has yet emerged as a strong threat. http://www.tribnet.com/news/story/4325238p-4335210c.html Bush reaches 53 percent approval rating. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001780749_approval02.html Discuss.
We won't know much until late spring. By then, the economy and Iraq need to be going much better for Bush, or he's in trouble. We'll also have the Dem. nominee by then--until then, these split polls aren't very telling.
I agree with DoctorJones, because polls like this don't really mean anything right now (IIRC, didn't Bush have a big lead over Gore this time of year during the last election cycle?). A year in politics is a long, long time and the aforementioned issues of Iraq and the economy are both wait-and-see.
As a Dean supporter, I obviously want Bush to lose next fall. However, I'm not very optimistic about a Bush loss and even less so since the last GDP growth figures came out. I think the Office of the President is given too much credit for the success or failure of the economy but the general public disagrees with me. So, if the economy continues to improve, it will be very difficult to get people to vote against Bush. I don't think the Iraq lies and occupation failures are gaining much traction with the general public. And with the redistricting that has gone on over the last decade, I don't see any changes in the House either. The Senate probably won't change either. With Graham and Edwards leaving their spots, it'll be difficult for the Dems to pick up enough seats to overturn the Repub majority. But a lot can change over the course of a year, so I haven't given up all hope; just not very optimistic. Murf