During a discussion of the recent resignation of White House chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr. on the March 28 edition of Fox News' The Big Story, host John Gibson wished Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) “good luck” in “convinc[ing] the American people” that they don't like President Bush's strategy in Iraq. But Gibson ignored numerous recent and past polling illustrating that a strong majority of Americans already believe that Bush does not have a clear plan for Iraq and disapprove of the way he is handling the situation there.
During the discussion, Durbin claimed that “the American people believe that this president can and should lead. But they look at the record over the last six months and even beyond and don't see evidence of it.” He then asked: “In Iraq, for example, what is the plan of this president to bring our troops home?” Gibson replied that “the president has said what he wants to do, and it sounds like he's standing pat with his program,” and added that if Durbin is “able to convince the American people they don't like it, good luck.”
However, recent polling illustrates that Americans' attitudes toward Bush's strategy in Iraq are increasingly negative. A March 16-17 Newsweek poll found that 65 percent of respondents disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, while only 29 percent approve. The margin of error was +/- 3 percent. Similarly, a March 10-13 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll asking the same question found that 61 percent disapprove of the job Bush is doing in Iraq, while 35 percent approve. The poll carried a margin of error of +/-3.1 percent. Additionally, a March 10-12 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found that 67 percent believe that Bush does not have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, while only 32 percent think he does. The margin of error for that poll was +/- 3 percent.
From the March 28 edition of Fox News' The Big Story with John Gibson:
GIBSON: Senator, the -- there is a lot of talk that other people will step forward and offer their resignation. Once again, you know, some Republicans have called for that, our own [Weekly Standard executive editor and Fox News political contributor] Fred Barnes called for it -- called for a shuffling of the deck, moving people around.
Just a guess, on your part, who do you think might step into the president's office next and say, “Mr. President, here is my resignation”?
DURBIN: It's hard to say. I don't know the inner workings of the White House. I believe that the president and vice president have a close circle of friends that they really trust. And unless that circle changes, new voices and new ideas come into it, I'm afraid we're going to see ourselves as a nation moving again in the wrong direction.
You klnow, the American people believe that this president can and should lead. But they look at the record over the last six months and even beyond and don't see evidence of it. In Iraq, for example, what is the plan of this president to bring our troops home? When it comes to health care, this administration --
GIBSON: Senator, he -- the president has said what he wants to do, and it sounds like he's standing pat with his program. If you're able to convince the American people they don't like it, good luck. But he's standing with it and it -- it sounds like he's just going to get some new people to help him with his plan.
