Yesterday, President Bush was more popular than he's been all year. The president's lagging poll numbers got a swift boost in overnight tracking surveys from Thursday's news that United States warplanes had killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted terrorist in Iraq.
Polling done on Thursday night for the IBD/TIPP Presidential Leadership Index gave George W. Bush a 44.2 rating, up from 39.1 on the first of June and 38.9 in May.
The last time the index reached this level was in December 2005, when it hit 44.3 The complete June index with be released on Tuesday.
Raghavan Mayur, president of TIPP, said the sudden rise in sentiment on a range of issues, including Americas standing in the world suggests that the Bush bounce is 'totally attributable' to Zarqawi.
Larry Sabato, director for the University of Vrigina's Center of Politics, thinks that there could be more behind the rise in Bush's ratings than just Zarqawi.
'It was the best week Bush has had since his second inauguaration,' he said.
Republican candidate Brian Billbray won a contrested California special election in the US House, and Congress was focused on 'issues that help Republicans' like gay marriage and the estate tax.
