Via the Stakeholder, ABC News has started polling on the Rove affair, and, well, it's no wonder that Bush is trying to move his Supreme Court justice up to tomorrow's news cycle.
Skepticism about the administration's cooperation has jumped. As theinitial investigation began in September 2003, nearly half the public,47 percent, believed the White House was fully cooperating. That fellto 39 percent a few weeks later, and it's lower still, 25 percent, inthis new ABC News poll.
This view is highly partisan; barely over a tenth of Democrats and justa quarter of independents think the White House is fully cooperating.That grows to 47 percent of Republicans — much higher, but still underhalf in the president's own party. And doubt about the administration'scooperation has grown as much among Republicans — by 22 points sinceSeptember 2003 — as it has among others.
Those are bad numbers for an administration that refuses to comment. But then, they're nothing compared to the numbers for the guy they're refusing to comment on:
75 percent say Rove should lose his job if the investigation finds heleaked classified information. That includes sizable majorities ofRepublicans, independents and Democrats alike — 71, 74 and 83 percent,respectively.
Ouch. The question is whether the Supreme Court pick can successfully silence the drumbeat and quiet, or at least distract, the press, because with Bush accelerating the search process, it seems clear that that's the Administration's first line of defense. And it may work, at least for awhile. On the other hand, it may not work at all, and his nominee may coexist on front pages with ever-increasing stories about the scandal, weakening the Administration at a time it can't afford to be hurt. That's what happened to Clinton when Whitewater dripped out while he was fighting for health care. Bush is no Clinton, he's much better at shutting down scandal, and the Democrats are no Republicans, they're much worse at exploiting weaknes but, on the bright side, Plame is no land deal -- she was a CIA agent involved in counterproliferation activities, and she should arouse much more popular interest.
