White House shrugs off sinking Bush poll numbers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With the president’s job approval at
its lowest ever, the White House said on Tuesday George W. Bush
was not driven by public opinion polls and dismissed them as
“something Washington gets caught up in.”

Bush’s job approval rating fell to an all-time low of 39
percent in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll published on Monday in
the wake of the government’s sluggish response to Hurricane
Katrina, high gas prices, continued fighting in Iraq and
controversy over his nomination of White House lawyer Harriet
Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The president’s focused on moving forward on our agenda,”
spokesman Scott McClellan said. “He doesn’t get caught up in
the weekly poll numbers.”

The numbers have steadily declined in all polls — at least
one put Bush’s job approval at 37 percent — since he was sworn
in for a second term in January.

“When you are a leader you can’t be driven by polls,”
McClellan said.

Bush was working on making sure the United States succeeded
in Iraq so American troops could come home, addressing high gas
prices, creating jobs, and winning the war on terror, McClellan
said.