Nude Descending a Poll

President Bush has abandoned his "stay the course" locution. Some light still does reach the inner sanctum of the White House, and the dim awareness that the campaign in the Middle Eastern provinces is not going well has intensified into a burst of administrative action and resolve. Over the radio, I just heard White House Press Secretary Tony Snow refer to Iraq as "a study in constant motion"—the President's most thrilling public pirouette yet. We've reached the second act in the war, in which we no long dither about why we're there but instead over what to call what we're going. The Bush administration will hone this Iraq message in perpetuity without ever again steering the course of American action there—and, tragically, considering the national treasure we continue to spend there, victory in Iraq will mean nothing short of handing this problem to the next President.

Tangentially related: More Americans believe that they have personally seen or felt the presence of a ghost (22%) than approve of the job Congress is doing (16%).