Bush has apparently received no post-election bounce, at least according to the most recent New York Times/CBS News Poll: the President's 51% is exactly the margin he received on election day, indicating the electorate is just as divided on him today as it was before the election. The Times Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder write that there are also other less than positive signs for Bush in the poll. In "Americans Show Clear Concerns on Bush Agenda", they write this:

After enduring a brutally fought election campaign, Americans are optimistic about the next four years under President Bush, but have reservations about central elements of the second-term agenda he presented in defeating Senator John Kerry, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

At a time when the White House has portrayed Mr. Bush's 3.5-million-vote victory as a mandate, the poll found that Americans are at best ambivalent about Mr. Bush's plans to reshape Social Security, rewrite the tax code, cut taxes and appoint conservative judges to the bench. There is continuing disapproval of Mr. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, with a plurality now saying it was a mistake to invade in the first place.

While Democrats, not surprisingly, were the staunchest opponents of many elements of Mr. Bush's second-term agenda, the concerns extended across party lines in some cases. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents - including 51 percent of Republicans - said it was more important to reduce deficits than to cut taxes, a central element of Mr. Bush's economic agenda. [emphasis added]

I still don't understand why the Democrats aren't working night and day to hit Bush and the Republicans for their reckless habits of bankrupting America, because that's one issue on which they can command a strong majority; what is more, it is a salient issue to the American people.

Americans don't want to burden further generations with immense debt, and that's exactly what this administration has done. It's time for the Democrats to get out there (a la Ross Perot) and scream about fiscal responsibility. If only they could get their act together...