Good news and bad news

The good news and the bad news in the latest Newsweek poll.

Sixty-four percent of Americans feel the surge in troops has been a failure, while less than a quarter (22 percent) deem it a success. Nearly a third of Republicans surveyed (31 percent) declare the surge a failure, which may help to explain why several high-profile senior Republicans have defected from the White House on support for the war. While Bush's overall approval rating remains low—just 29 percent—it is up 3 points from another NEWSWEEK sounding earlier this month.