The latest polls

Well, the president's poll numbers are slipping yet again (surprise, surprise) as reported in an article entitled, "Americans Give Bush Poor Marks on Handling Katrina, Polls Show":

Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Two new polls show Americans give President George W. Bush poor marks for his handling of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, with one survey showing that Bush is now losing support even among his Republican base.

Both polls contain additional bad news for Bush. A poll by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press gives him an overall job approval rating of 40 percent -- down 10 percent since January -- and a disapproval rating of 52 percent, among the highest of his presidency.

Bush's job approval rating was 41 percent in a Zogby America poll, the lowest in that poll's history, and 53 percent of those questioned said the nation is headed in the "wrong direction.''

The surveys were conducted in the week following the hurricane's assault on the Gulf Coast and show that support for the president, at near-record lows before the storm's arrival, fell further amid anger over the federal government's response.

"Uncharacteristically, the president's ratings have slipped most among his core constituents -- Republicans and conservatives,'' Pew director Andy Kohut wrote in an e-mail.

And here's another poll result that is also not surprising:

The Pew poll found that blacks are more inclined to believe race played a factor in the federal response to the hurricane than whites; many of those who remained in New Orleans after the flooding were blacks.

Some 66 percent of blacks surveyed said the federal response would have been faster if most of the victims in New Orleans were white, while 77 percent of whites questioned said the issue of race made no difference in the government's response.

The president has got a lot to answer for. Let's hope the press and the Democratic Party make him do it.