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Killed Terrorists and Poll Numbers

Will the killing of arch-terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi prove to be something of an image booster for the Bush Administration, or is ?Dubya? doomed to not only lame-duck status, but lame-duck status combined with Jimmy Carter-esque approval ratings until he leaves office in January 2009? After scandals and miscalculations, it is fairly obvious to pretty much everyone that the Bush Administration, and indeed beyond that the Republican Party, is in need of an effective shot in the arm to get both the party and the agenda of President George W. Bush (whatever that may be) back on track.

Since we?re only approaching the middle of 2006, one would think that time is on the side of President Bush. Truth be told, it is ? his image can be repaired, and he and his advisors have made changes at the White House which on the surface appear to be more than simply cosmetic. But the Republican Party isn?t so fortune. The party?s image has suffered blow after blow in recent months, and with mid-term elections coming up this November the GOP is scrambling to hold onto seats that if lost could turn the Senate, the House of Representatives, or both into Democratic Party-controlled tools of anti-Bush, anti-Republican obstruction.

If Congress is lost to the Democrats, any significant efforts by President Bush to see through what he wants to do could end in failure. But even if the Republicans manage to hold onto both houses at the U.S. Capitol, they face an uphill battle on everything from national defense efforts and the war in Iraq to gay-lesbian marriage and the hot-button issue of illegal immigration. The death of Zarqawi may be a needed ?vitamin supplement? for U.S. efforts to build democracy and stability in Iraq, but many are the doubts that this event is what the Bush White House needs to truly repair its over-and-again tarnished image.