Why Bush has such low approval ratings

By John Eidson

George Bush has made many mistakes, as all presidents do, but there is another reason his approval ratings are so low.

Rasmussen Reports released new polling numbers showing that Americans overwhelmingly believe the media is a biased institution that heavily favors Democrats. According to the poll, only 17% believe that the mainstream media offer unbiased coverage, and that four times as many -- 68% -- believe those same networks try to help politicians they favor and hurt those they don't.

The Rasmussen poll reinforces the conclusion of other polls that show the same thing. A poll by Sacred Hearts University found that declining percentages of Americans believe what the mainstream media reports. Moreover, the perception continues to grow that the media deliberately attempt to influence public opinion by distorting the news in a way that favors Democrats.

By a wide margin, the Sacred Hearts poll found that Fox News is the most trusted news organization (27%), followed by CNN (14.6%), NBC (10.9%), ABC (7.0%) and CBS (6.8%). In 2003, however, before the start of the war in Iraq, CNN led Fox on “most trusted for accurate reporting” by 23.8% to 14.6%. When the aftermath of the war did not go well, the media seized the opportunity to follow the lead of Democrats by portraying Bush in the least favorable light possible.

Had the media covered World War II the way it has covered Iraq, FDR would have had the same low approval ratings as those of George Bush.

John Eidson is a white conservative who takes great pleasure in black success.