From the New York Times' somewhat blog-like Times on the Trail feature, we learn that most Americans are unimpressed with the leadership of G.W. Bush:

Mr. Bush's overall job approval rating has teetered around 50 percent for months now, and in the latest CBS News poll it was 49 percent. Only 37 percent of those polled said they approved of his handling of the economy, 42 percent approved of his handling of foreign policy and 44 percent approved of the way he is handling Iraq, down from 49 percent in early March.

In the recent Los Angeles Times poll, Mr. Bush's overall job approval was 51 percent. And in the Gallup poll taken a few days earlier, it was 53 percent.

The public has growing doubts too about the Iraq war. Just 37 percent of the respondents in the CBS News poll said the war had been worth the loss of American lives and other costs, while 54 percent said it had not. Only 36 percent said the United States was more safe from terrorism as a result of the war against Iraq; 22 percent said the United States was less safe; and 38 percent said the war had made no difference.

These numbers -- especially the ones on the economy and Iraq -- are likely not going to change no matter how many feel-good ads Bush buys with his record warchest. If Bush wants to be elected in November, he's either got to (1) do something right or, more realistically, (2) go negative and attempt to smear Kerry as even a more of miserable failure than he (Bush) is.