Slowly but surely

From The Washington Post, 9/20/03:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Sep19.html

What the $87 Billion Speech Cost Bush

Polls May Indicate That TV Address Eroded President's Support on
Iraq

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, September 20, 2003; Page A02


President Bush has often used major speeches to bolster his standing
with the public, but pollsters and political analysts have concluded
that his recent prime-time address on Iraq may have had the opposite
effect -- crystallizing doubts about his postwar plans and fueling
worries about the cost.

A parade of polls taken since the Sept. 7 speech has found notable
erosion in public approval for Bush's handling of Iraq, with a
minority of Americans supporting the $87 billion budget for
reconstruction and the war on terrorism that he unveiled.

"If Bush and his advisers had been looking to this speech to rally
American support for the president and for the war in Iraq, it
failed," said Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup poll.

He said Bush's speech may have cost him more support than it gained,
"because it reminded the public both of the problems in Iraq and the
cost."

Since the speech from the Cabinet Room, headlines on poll after poll
have proved unnerving for many Republicans and encouraging for
Democrats.

"Bush Iraq Rating at New Low," said a CBS News poll taken Sept. 15
and
Sept. 16.

"Americans Split on Bush Request for $87 Billion," said a Fox News
poll taken Sept. 9 and Sept. 10.

A Gallup poll taken Sept 8 to 10 pointed to "increasingly negative
perceptions about the situation in Iraq" and found the balance
between
Bush's approval and disapproval ratings to be "the most negative of
the administration."

A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken from Sept. 10 to Sept. 13
found
that 55 percent of those surveyed said the Bush administration does
not have a clear plan for the situation in Iraq, and 85 percent said
they were concerned the United States will get bogged down in a long
and costly peacekeeping mission.

Those results were disappointing to supporters who had watched Bush
galvanize public opinion with his speech on Iraq at the United
Nations
on Sept. 12, 2002, stanching accounts of drift and infighting in his
administration.