What Now?

How low can he go? That’s the question many Republicans are asking today in the wake of a new poll showing President Bush at his lowest approval rating yet. According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, only three in 10 Americans approve of the job Bush is doing—a number tying the low point of his father in July 1992, four months before the elder President Bush lost his bid for a second term. According to the poll, it is the third-lowest approval rating of any president in 50 years—only Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter were viewed less favorably. The findings show that Bush lost even more ground with his base, as barely half of the Republicans polled think Bush is doing a good job.

In other words, it was more bad news for a White House struggling to regain its footing on the eve of a midterm election considered pivotal for the Republican Party.

For the White House, there are two big questions: will Bush’s approval rating dip into the much dreaded 20 percent range, and how will they dig out? Perhaps most disappointing for administration officials wasn’t Bush’s low approval rating itself, but the low ratings overall for the issues the White House has tapped in its efforts to win back momentum. Indeed, the poll found poor support for virtually every single agenda issue Bush has pushed in recent months as a part of regaining his groove in his second term. Only 28 percent approve of Bush’s handling of the economy. Just 29 percent think Bush is doing good job handling the war in Iraq. About a quarter of those polled approve of how Bush has tackled immigration issues. More depressing for this White House: just 13 percent approve of Bush’s handling of rising gas prices, an issue the president and congressional Republicans have struggled to deal with in recent weeks. According to the poll, 57 percent of those surveyed said they trusted Democrats over Republicans to find a solution on the issue.

So what does the White House do now? Even before today’s poll, administration officials were weighing yet another retooling of the message to woo so-called suburban voters. Last Thursday, 18 House Republicans met at the White House with Karl Rove, the president’s top political adviser, to come up with an agenda of less divisive policy ideas that could score points with voters in the suburbs, both Democrats and Republicans. Instead of focusing on contentious topics like immigration or a proposed ban on same-sex marriage, Rove and the lawmakers strategized on an agenda centered on more simple legislative proposals that could be an easy win for the GOP. Among the ideas: tax incentives for college-savings accounts, more funding for local police working to crack down on gangs and the creation of a federal database to track sex offenders. The group also talked about laws to combat urban sprawl—a huge issue in states like Illinois, Ohio and Arizona, home to some of the most closely fought House and Senate races in the country.

“The idea was to set simple goals that would allow us to show that we can get something done,” one House GOP lawmaker, who declined to be named while discussing a private meeting, told NEWSWEEK. “We need to overcome the ideas out there that we are in a total stalemate. We need some victories, even small ones.”

Looking for the small victories is a definite change of pace for a president known to focus on sweeping ideas like Social Security reform or an immigrant-worker program. But with poll numbers inching toward historic lows, the White House has to do something to reverse the tide, not only to improve the president’s fortunes but those of his party, as well. According to the GOP lawmaker, both Bush and Rove have reminded Republicans in recent meetings that this administration doesn’t relish the idea of a “lonely victory,” a reference to Bush’s statements in 2004 that he was committed to doing his part to maintain a GOP majority in Congress.