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Blogs of the Union

By tsmith on January 31, 2006.

As mentioned over on Gene Expression, Radio Open Source has called for Blogs of the Union (BOTU), in preparation for tonight's State of the Union address. I thought about it quite a bit last night, but couldn't get anything down without being too depressed (and depressing). So instead, I'll just cite a story in today's Des Moines Register that shows how Iowans view the state of the union.

A 61 percent majority of Iowans think the nation has gotten off on the wrong track, according to The Des Moines Register's latest Iowa Poll. Nearly as large a segment of the state's adults --59 percent -- disapprove of the Republican president's job performance on the day of his State of the Union address.

Bush also receives thumbs-down from a majority of Iowans on his handling of Iraq, immigration and other key issues. And a controversial domestic eavesdropping program sanctioned by the president has more critics than supporters in the state.

***

The proportion of Iowans who applaud Bush's overall job performance has plummeted from a peak of 84 percent in the fall of 2001, following the terrorist attacks on American soil, to 37 percent in the latest Iowa Poll. While that figure is down just a point from early December, it's the lowest approval mark of his presidency in the poll.

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