The No-Confidence Man

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, October 7, 2008

"We're going to come through this just fine," President Bush said yesterday, in a lackluster attempt to be reassuring as the financial markets tanked. "I believe in the long run this economy is going to be just fine."

In the not-so-very long run, of course, Bush will be leaving the White House. But in the meantime, it's hard for a president to restore confidence in the economy when America has lost confidence in the president.

And it doesn't help that just a few days ago, Bush was essentially encouraging panic in order to get Congress to pass his bailout plan. Now the panic has grown to such enormous proportions that it dwarfs even the $700 billion appropriated to rescue the fat cats who precipitated the problem in the first place.

Poll Watch

Paul Steinhauser writes for CNN: "Only 24 percent of those polled approve of President Bush's job performance, an all-time low for a CNN survey." The poll also found that only 26 percent of Americans are confident in Bush's ability to handle the financial crisis.

Gallup reports: "President Bush's job approval rating is at 25% in the latest Oct. 3-5 Gallup Poll, the lowest of the Bush administration, and only three percentage points above the lowest presidential approval rating in Gallup Poll history. .

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