Informed Speculation

Mickey Kaus first noticed it, Glenn Greenwald ridiculed it, and Mystery Pollster endorses it – it being the notion that every time a major media outlet breaks a ‘scandal’ that involves vigorous anti-terrorist efforts and domestic surveillance on the part of the President, his numbers go up:

MP makes no predictions, but Bush can only stand to gain if the public’s attention shifts from his handling of gas prices, the economy, immigration and Iraq to his administration’s efforts to “investigate terrorism.” The Post-ABC poll found that 51% approve (and 47% disapprove) of “the way Bush is handling Protecting Americans’ privacy rights as the government investigates terrorism.” That is “hardly a robust rating,” as the ABC release puts it, “but one that’s far better than his overall job approval, in the low 30s in recent polls.”

That’s good news for Republicans – the bad news is that, when the NSA story broke last year, his numbers went down farther than ever after a brief bump.

Ryan James weighs in with the personal touch…