Bush's Stature Falls in More Than Just Polls

As I stood in line at the drugstore the other day, I couldn't help but notice the blaring headline "Laura Walks Out! - after showdown with George over cheating with Condi" on the cover of The Globe (after clicking on the link, scroll down the page to June 19 for an image of the cover). Then, when I attempted to find the story online, I came across an even more embarassing story in The Weekly World News, "Bush Thrilled to Be Reading at a Sixth Grade Level and It's About Time."

Now I don't put much stock in the tabloids, but I think it says something about Bush's public stature that magazines like these don't fear alienating their readers by publishing stories of this nature. Of course, these same tabloids printed all sorts of scandalous stories about Bill Clinton and his purported affairs when he was in office, and admittedly, many of them were true. But don't these Bush stories bring more disgrace to the White House than Bill Clinton's private affairs with an intern? At least no one denied that Bill Clinton could read the New York Times without a dictionary close by.

And yet, not seven years ago, Bush campaigned on the notion of returning dignity and respect to the office of the Presidency. And for a while, he seemed to be managing alright in that department. Even with his worthless-to-the-average-citizen tax cuts, his unappealing plans for Social Security reform, the "My Pet Goat" fiasco and the debacle we call "The War On Terror" (or Operation Iraqi Freedom - you decide), he still seemed to be regarded as a good Christian who above all meant well and tried his darndest (because as we all know by now, being President is "hard".)

It's no secret that most Democrats and a good amount of independents lost respect for Bush a long time ago. But they're not the general readership of tabloids like The Globe. Little old ladies getting their hair frosted in the midwest are now seemingly okay with believing that Bush isn't all he proclaimed to be in the morals and ethics department. Or at the very least, they're not offended by the notion of considering the idea. And what does this mean in the long run?

For a President who has made his name on being a tough-talking cowboy who tells it like it is, sticks to his guns and never backs down in the face of "those who hate our freedom," this drop in his public perception is even more damaging than his credibility on issues like the economy or the war in Iraq. Because if Americans can't take him seriously as a leader, we can't honestly expect the rest of the world to feel any differently. And if the world no longer puts stock in his bravado and chest-beating, what other political capital does he have left?

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