A Mixed Bag for President Bush

Sure, President Bush's AG nominee Michael Mukasey made it past the Judiciary Committee and was sent to the floor for approval by the full Senate. But new polls show Bush breaking disapproval rating records set by one President Richard Milhouse Nixon.

Mukasey caught a break this weekend when a couple of possible detractors announced they would actually end up voting in favor of sending his nomination to the floor. That resulted in today's vote which ended up being 11-9 in favor. As it was so close, the affirmative votes from Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer made the recommendation possible.

As for the (dis)approval ratings, they come from Gallup and not some crazy, mixed up, small-time local news poll. In 1974 and on the cusp of Watergate, 48% of people responding to the Gallup poll "strongly disapproved" of Richard Nixon's job performance. Bush careened past that record low by scoring 50%, meaning that, if the Gallup sample is assumed to be representative, 1 of every 2 American adults strongly disapproves of George Bush's performance as President.