March has become an extremely difficult month for George W. Bush and the Republican Congress. Their privatization scheme is not popular; they have significant ethics issues; and their overreach in the Terri Schiavo case is extremely unpopular, even among evangelicals. The latest poll from Pew underscores this, and further points to an erosion of support for privatization among one of the key demographics.

While public opinion on private investment accounts has not changed much in the past month, support for the idea among younger Americans – who up to this point have been the most reliable backers of the proposal – has weakened significantly. In February, people age 18-29 favored the idea of private accounts by a 66%-19% margin. Today, just 49% favor private accounts, while 25% are opposed, and nearly as many (26%) say they don’t know how they feel about the issue.

Looking at the specific data (in PDF form), there are a lot of interesting trends. Bush's approval sits at 45%, his lowest mark since May. The GOP leadership in Congress fares even worse at 39%, its lowest mark in nearly five years. The Democrats still have a long way to go before they're able to parlay these numbers into a Congressional majority, but 2006 is looking better and better.