Demagogue

Turn on a television in almost any region of America, watch it for a while, and you are likely to see a 30-second ad tying an incumbent Republican officeholder to President George W. Bush.

Joe Shlabotnik likes President Bush .... Joe Shlabotnik supports the same position as President Bush .... Joe Shlabotnik wears neckties just like President Bush does .... Joe Shlabotnik once stood within 15 feet of President Bush ....

As much as GOP partisans despised Bill Clinton, his approval ratings were never low enough (not even during the impeachment era) for them to use him as a prop in TV ads as Democrats are now using Bush.

With his current approval ratings in the range of 37 to 40 percent, Bush makes for an easy target this election season.

If the White House is looking for the silver lining, this may be as good as it gets: in France, President Jacques Chirac's approval rating is only 24 percent — and that's up from 16 percent last July.

P.S. — By the way, if the name Joe Shlabotnik sounds familiar to you, you're probably as old as I am.