The majority of Americans polled now disapprove of Bush's job performance and it has never been more than a few points that have approved. He has had the lowest popularity ratings of a re-elected president in history.

They overwhelmingly disapprove of his Social Security proposal. They disapprove of his handling of Iraq. They believe he lied to get us into the war. They disapprove of his environmental policies. They disapprove of his stand against abortion (except late-term). They disapprove of his stand against stem cell research. Even the idiotic Frist -- who diagnosed Teri Schiavo by video -- today opposed Bush on stem cell research.

We're likely to see more of the latter kind of distancing for one simple reason: midterm elections.