Trouble, Oh We Got Trouble

Washington Post (03.26.05):

"For years, Bush has succeeded politically in stitching together the disparate elements of the conservative movement, marrying the libertarian and family-values wings of his party. Now he faces a major Republican rupture. Polls show the vast majority of Americans, including conservatives and evangelical Christians, disapprove of the decision by Bush and Congress to get involved in the Schiavo matter. And more worrying for the White House, those polls have also shown a significant drop in Bush's overall approval ratings." Bush's Back-and-Forth Reflects Rift in Party

The use of the word "probably" here is interesting. "(P)residential advisers shrug off the latest poll numbers. 'I believe . . . the president's recent favorable ratings and Schiavo case [are] probably entirely disconnected,' Mark McKinnon, a Bush political strategist, said in an e-mail message. The slipping approval numbers were 'more due to rising gas prices, rising interest rates and some recent economic uncertainty.'" Yeah, well that too. Earlier this week: Trouble In River City. "We've surely got trouble! Right here in River City, Right here! Gotta figger out a way To keep the young ones moral after school!" Meredith Willson, Music Man