Bush sidesteps questions about CIA leak
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-05 14:01

The case has further damaged Bush's standing in the polls. A new AP-Ipsos poll found Bush's approval rating was at 37 percent, compared with 39 percent a month ago. A Washington Post-ABC News poll also found six in 10 Americans say Rove should resign.

Bush lamented being repeatedly asked in recent weeks about poll numbers that are the lowest of his presidency. To virtually every question on the leak case, he responded by pivoting to the importance of focusing instead on his agenda.

"I understand there is a preoccupation by the polls and by some," Bush said. "The way you earn credibility with the American people is to declare an agenda that everybody can understand, an agenda that relates to their lives, and get the job done."

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, is seeking to capitalize on Bush's troubles to help elect members of their party to Congress in 2006. A fund-raising letter sent Friday by Democrat Nancy Pelosi alleged that "the Republicans have run this country under the mantle of profit, partisanship, and power for long enough."

The only question in the 12-minute exchange with reporters that Bush directly answered was one about how he would greet Hugo Chavez, the outspoken, leftist leader of Venezuela who is using the summit as a stage to needle Bush and bolster his own standing among Latin American nations. Bush promised to "of course, be polite."