The Incredible Shrinking Presidency

What we seem to be witnessing is the incredible shrinking presidency of George W. Bush. By we, I mean the entire country. I always thought his hubris and arrogance would get him in trouble but it seems to be his policies instead.

As a person, he still seems to be popular but his poll numbers are sinking like a guy with a cement overcoat. Why? Because he keeps on pushing for or against things the public doesn’t agree with. Bush wants to restructure Social Security. In the latest polls only thirty-three percent are in his corner, even after his big four month push. Then he says he’ll veto a bill that would expand federal funding for stem cell research. Almost everybody has a family member or knows somebody that this research could help. Over sixty percent are in favor of expanding stem cell research and cannot understand why he would rather see surplus embryos flushed down a toilet than used to help living breathing people.

Remember the Terry Schaivo fiasco? Only eighty percent thought the President and Congress were out of line for trying to interfere in that family matter. And as the war in Iraq drags on with no resolution in sight, it’s popularity (if one can say a war can be popular) has hit new lows, with only thirty-six percent now saying the war is worth the price we’re paying. For the first time ever, less than forty-three percent believe it is making us safer here at home. And this with a majority of the population unaware of the Downing Street Memo and other controversial matters now coming to light. Bush’s handling of the economy and the direction he’s taking the country are also drawing new lows with forty-three and thirty-five percent respectively.

It seems that Bush is pleasing no one, except the hyper and ultra rich as he appeases the dark side of his base, while his other constituents scratch their collective heads and wonder when the President is going to stop his slide into irrelevancy and do or propose something they can agree with.

They say that, as the temperature descends, matter shrinks a certain percentage until it hits what is termed Absolute Zero, at which points matter ceases to exist. Do you think its possible that, if Bush’s poll numbers hit zero, his incredible shrinking Presidency will disappear?