HE'S A LOSER, BABY, SO WHY DON'T YOU "STRONGLY DISAPPROVE" OF HIM?

According to a new New York Times/CBS poll, President Bush's approval rating has dropped to 29% -- and his approval by Republicans has dropped 13% since last fall.

At the American Street, Old Blue suggests some possible reasons for this: bad news from Iraq, of course, and also a steady stream of stories about shabby treatment of U.S. servicemembers.

Yes, maybe even Republicans are starting to lose faith in Bush for these reasons -- but I have another theory.

Notice when the drop started: last fall -- when Bush's party lost an election.

I think there's an increase in Republican dissatisfaction with Bush for the simple reason that Republicans don't like losers. Bush believes in all the things he used to believe in, and Republicans still believe in those things, too, but now he's being beaten up by John Murtha and Nancy Pelosi, so he's got loser-cooties. Therefore, a lot of them don't like him anymore.

Haven't we been hearing lately that the Republican Party almost always picks its early frontrunner as its presidential nominee? Well, there you go. That's the GOP philosophy: We want to vote for whoever's the most popular.

Also recall what right-wing radio talk-show host Michael Graham said a couple of months ago about why evangelicals in Dixie might support the notorious social-issue flip-flopper Mitt Romney:

Chris Matthews may not have picked up on this yet, but rich, handsome, successful white guys aren't exactly anathema to Southern conservatives.

Republicans like winners -- and now even they realize that Bush isn't one. So a lot of them don't care about shared principles anymore -- they're just saying, "Later for you, loser."