Is Bush Bad for Republicans?

July 27, 2006 — -- For years, former Philadelphia 76er Charles Barkley has discussed running for governor as a Republican in his home state of Alabama.

This month, Barkley refueled talk about his future candidacy, except there was a change: He would run as a Democrat.

"I was a Republican until they lost their minds," the man once known as the "Round Mound of Rebound" said at a celebrity golf tournament earlier this month.

As goes Barkley, so goes the nation?

Not necessarily, but Republican candidates all over the country are running from the president with the energy and determination of Barkley in the paint.

It's no secret as to why: A brand-new Wall Street Journal poll shows President Bush's unpopularity has stayed relatively steady all year, with 56 percent of those polled disapproving of the president's job performance, and a staggering 60 percent of the nation thinking the United States is on the wrong track.

"The president's low approval ratings and the pessimism about the direction of the country are a real drag on Republican candidates up for re-election this year," said Amy Walter, senior editor of the Cook Political Report. "You can see it in their polling numbers. You can see it in their concerns."

Scarlet 'R'

The most notorious case in point this week: Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, a rising star in the Republican Party and the GOP Senate candidate from Maryland, made a daring admission.

"In this political climate, being a Republican is like having a scarlet letter 'R' on your cloak, on your clothing," Steele said to WBAL-AM radio on Wednesday.

Earlier, Steele made scathing comments anonymously to reporters, saying he probably wouldn't want the president to campaign for him now as he had in the past. He also criticized the Bush administration's strategy for the war in Iraq and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

After admitting that he was the unnamed GOP Senate candidate named in a Washington Post story, Steele insisted he didn't mean to insult the president.