The President's Numbers

We're not big on public opinion polls unless they confirm our prejudices, of course, and this one by Gallup does just that so we'll share it with you:

A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey shows that President George W. Bush's approval rating has increased to 57%, up from 51% three weeks ago. The approval increase appears to be related to the recent Iraqi elections, which the poll shows went better than most Americans expected. In general, the public is more positive now than it was before the elections about the way Bush has handled the situation in Iraq, as well as how the war is faring for the United States. At the same time, the poll shows little change in Bush's job approval rating on the economy or on Social Security.

By almost a two-to-one majority (61% to 31%), Americans said the elections in Iraq went better than expected. This perception appears to have led Americans to a generally more positive view about Iraq and about Bush.

The poll shows that 55% of Americans now say the war in Iraq was not a mistake, while just last month 52% of Americans felt it was a mistake.

Also, there is a 13-point increase in the percentage of Americans who say things are going well for the United States in Iraq -- 53% say either "very" or "moderately" well now, compared with 40% prior to the Iraqi elections.

We'd like to know what it is that has changed in Iraq in the last three weeks, or the last three months, that has caused people to give the president higher marks now than previously. The elections occured in Iraq, of course, but they weren't a surprise. They had been scheduled since last year. Nor should their success have been a surprise except perhaps to those whose only news source is the MSM or Left-wing journals and blogs.

The fact is that things are going about as well in Iraq now as they have been for the last year or so. The difference is that the MSM, having very few blown up cars and shredded bodies to report about on election day, focused instead on something which they had ignored ever since the fall of Saddam - the joy and hope of the Iraqi people. Evidently, when a lot of average Americans saw Iraqi jubilation on their television screens it jolted them into changing their minds about the quality of the job that Bush is doing there.

Unfortunately, if that's the reaction that positive news coverage is going to produce, then we fear we shouldn't look for too many more upbeat stories from Iraq for awhile. The last thing the MSM wants is to be responsible for continued improvement in Bush's approval numbers, and they're probably aghast that they've precipitated this recent spike.