The Incredible Shrinking Presidency

Americans are overwhelmingly resigned to something less than clear-cut victory in Iraq and growing numbers doubt the country will achieve a stable, democratic government no matter how the U.S. gets out, according to an AP poll.

At the same time, dissatisfaction with President Bush's handling of Iraq has climbed to an all-time high of 71 percent. The latest AP-Ipsos poll, taken as a bipartisan commission was releasing its recommendations for a new course in Iraq, found that just 27 percent of Americans approved of Bush's handling of Iraq, down from his previous low of 31 percent in November.

Still... that's 27% approval which still seems high to me. What's his bottom number? And how many soldiers have to die before he gets there? I read once that hardcore Right-Wing Theocratical Evangelicals are 18% of the population (and therefore an astonishing 36% of that party... no wonder they can't nominate good candidates). I'm assuming that 18% of Americans is Bush's ground-floor... where everyone of every stripe except those who think BTK Bush is the second coming of Christ has abandoned him.

What will it take for that last 9% of non-nutso-Evangelicals to peel away from Bush's War On Iraq? And who are these people?