And This Is News?

The NYT it running a front page article on a new poll showing that Bush II's policy priorities are out-of-step with most Americans. Some surprise. Perhaps the pollsters should go back and query the voters who backed a second administration believing that there was a connection between Osama Bin Laden and that Iraq had WMD (and, as an aside, perhaps the poli sci crowd can now redefine "dummy variable" in voter models). Given the increasing volume of conservative dissonance, W appears to be burning his political-capital candle at both ends, and four months after marginally winning the general election is on the verge of becoming a lame duck with several years to go:

Americans say President Bush does not share the priorities of most of the country on either domestic or foreign issues, are increasingly resistant to his proposal to revamp Social Security and say they are uneasy with Mr. Bush's ability to make the right decisions about the retirement program, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The poll underscores just how little headway Mr. Bush has made in his effort to build popular support as his proposal for overhauling Social Security struggles to gain footing in Congress. At the same time, there has been an increase in respondents who say that efforts to restore order in Iraq are going well, even as an overwhelming number of Americans say Mr. Bush has no clear plan for getting out of Iraq.