They keep crowing about how Bush still has the solid backing of rank-and-file Rpublicans. So what? Republicans comprise only one-third of the general electorate.

Neither party can win the White House without the support of independent voters — and with independents turning 2-1 against Bush and the Iraq war(Need I say that over 90 percent of Democrats oppose the war?), the GOP doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of keeping the White house in 2008, let alone recapture control of Congress.

Mainstream Republicans have supported George W. Bush for much longer than makes sense. But the fact that he has dropped to 28 percent in two polls this year, including a new one from Newsweek, could signal that even they are turning on him. Left with o…

“Half of all Americans doubt whether they can trust President George Bush four months after he took office, according to a nationwide poll, commissioned by Time magazine and CNN. The poll follows in the wake of Senator Jim Jeffords’ defection from the ruling Republican party last week. The crisis, which tips the balance of power in favour of the Democratic party in the Senate, has raised questions about the Bush administration’s decision to push ahead with a strongly conservative agenda in spite of its weak mandate. Mr Jeffords renounced his party membership in protest at what he saw as the government’s hardline approach on education and the environment.” -The Guardian, May 28, 2001 http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,497613,00.html