Change of heartland

Indiana voters turn on Bush
This month, the Indianapolis Star released poll findings that Bush's approval rating among Indiana voters stood at 37 percent -- a drop of 18 points over the past year. The numbers echoed national polls, but were particularly shocking in a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964.

''A 37 percent approval rating in Indiana for a Republican president is unheard of," said Brian Howey, who runs a newsletter for Indiana state political insiders. ''Those are Bill Clinton or John Kerry numbers in Indiana. So there is something seriously awry going on right now."

From a waitress at the South Junction Café:
"I hear all these people come in and say: 'That President Bush, we got to get that guy out of there.' But you ask them who they voted for, and they hush up because they were the ones who voted him in. He's their boy."

From a self-declared ''partisan supporter" of Bush:
''The mid-term elections are coming and it scares me to death, speaking as a partisan Republican," he said. ''There's a difference between regular dissatisfaction and a dissent that will move an election. There's that feeling in the air."

And this from the Bush Boys' own backyard...

Florida Republicans see trouble brewing: "'These numbers are like a tsunami. There has been a literal sea change, a potential realignment toward the Democrats in Florida,' Towery said. 'I think the state's gone from being pretty safe Republican to being pretty safe Democrat. And it's because the independents who kept (both Bushes) in office have shifted something like 70 percent to the Democrats.'"