WHITE FLIGHT? I'm not really sure what to make of this data showing that the deterioration in the President's poll numbers is largely due to "white flight," with non-Hispanic white support for Bush dropping by about 20 points since June 2004. That tracks pretty closely with the accelerating rise in gas prices, but it's hard to disaggregate concerns over fuel costs from the war in Iraq, Bush's mishandling of Katrina, and all the other sundry scandals and failures that have marked this administration's second term. This may also be a reflection of the so-called "Affordability Crisis," which is pummeling middle-class whites pretty hard, but I'd need to see the data sliced by income bracket to reach any solid conclusions there.
--Ezra Klein
