Bush and Iraq: For Better, For Worse

Bush is doing badly in the polls, because of Iraq. His Gallup Poll approval rating of 36% is the lowest of his presidency.
[Poll at: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/archive/?poll_id=19]

Iraq is what Bush will be most remembered for, according to 64% of responders. And 61% of those polled said Iraq would play the “most important” or a “very important” role in deciding how they vote in the upcoming Congressional elections, not good for Bush since 60% think things in Iraq are going badly.

Only 42% say going into Iraq wasn’t a mistake, the running poll's lowest percentage ever. In Vietnam, the Gallup Poll didn’t find that little support for the war until after Tet in February 1968, a month before Johnson announced he wouldn’t run for re-election.

Yet hidden in these, for Bush, dismal numbers were signs of rising confidence in the economy:

"Rate Economy Today"
Date: Good/Poor
3/06: 59%/41%
9/05: 53%/47%
4/05: 50%/49%
12/04: 53%/47%

"Rate Economy A Year from Now"
Date: Good/Poor
3/06: 60%/37%
9/05: 49%/50%
4/05: 51%/48%
12/04: 60%/39%