Bush’s job approval numbers may be mired in the low 30s right now, but U.S. News’ Washington Whispers reports that Bush aides predict he’ll be at 45 percent when he leaves office:

He’s a poll cellar-dweller whom even GOP presidential candidates sneer at, but George W. Bush and some congressional backers see happy days for the prez this year. His fans have dubbed it his “legacy year,” when they hope to lock in his achievements on the domestic front.

Among the items Bush’s GOP congressional allies want to work on this month: continuing his tax cuts and extending the controversial No Child Left Behind Act. As for the war, they say, the news has been good, and Bushies believe that their guy will eventually get credit for opening the war on terrorism. But more immediately, they are predicting a remarkable poll shift to about 45 percent favorable by the time he leaves office next year.

While the White House sees “happy days” here again for Bush’s “legacy year,” the American public appears quite ready for his presidency to be over. In the past year, the public’s disapproval of Bush has been extremely stable:

The Republican presidential candidates are hesitant to even mention Bush’s name. As the Washington Post recently wrote, “All sides agree the electorate at least says it is in no mood for a candidate that embodies the status quo, or even incremental movement.”

Jay Newton-Small on Time’s Swampland blog wonders:

[I]s there room in Washington for both a Speaker Pelosi and a President Hillary?

Scott Lemieux at TAPPED observes, “A blogger at Swampland (via) is inventing a mythical catfight between Pelosi and Clinton because…another (male) member of Congress [Rep. George Miller (D-CA)] endorsed Obama. I’m serious.” (via Atrios)

For months, Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) has resisted his fellow GOP lawmakers’ calls for his resignation. In September he defiantly announced, “I will not step aside. I am running again, period.”

Nevertheless, this afternoon at a press conference in his home district, Doolittle reluctantly said that he would be retiring at the end of his term:

“My wife, Julie, and I have made this decision after much prayer and deliberation. It was not my initial intent to retire, and I fully expected and planned to run again right up until very recently,” Doolittle said after addressing supporters in his Northern California district.

“But it distilled upon us that we were ready for a change after spending almost our entire married lives with me in public service. We are at peace with this choice and look forward to starting a new chapter in our lives.”

Doolittle was gracious in his speech today, but he clearly blames others for his downfall. He has consistently refused to admit to his mistakes, instead resorting to attacks and name-calling against his critics. A look at the individuals and organizations Doolittle likely blames for his resignation today:

FBI: In May, Doolittle accused the government “of leaking word of an FBI search on his home” a day before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before Congress on the U.S. attorney scandal, in an attempt to show that the Justice Department wasn’t partisan.

Justice Department (General): Doolittle said that the Justice Department’s long-running probe of his ethics violations “borders on harrassment.” He also compared himself to the Duke lacrosse players who were falsely accused of rape, lamenting that people were rushing to “unfounded conclusions.”

Justice Department (Democrats): In May, Doolittle claimed that “embedded Democratic staffers in the Justice Department” were responsible for the investigation against him because they were allegedly interested in “rehabilitating the reputation of embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.”

His GOP critics: In September, Doolittle called his Republican critics “weasels” for pressuring him to resign. “This is just self-interest on the part of ambitious people,” he said.

CREW: In September, nonprofit watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington listed Doolittle in its annual list of the “most corrupt members of Congress.” Doolittle called the group “underhanded and vile.” “There’s nothing responsible or ethical” about Crew, he said.

Doolittle and his wife are currently under federal investigation for their role in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal, and questions have been raised about his ties to Cunningham co-conspirators contractors Brent Wilkes and Mitchell Wade.

McClatchy’s Jerusalem blog writes that the White House transcribers are revising Bush’s remarks to read with more grammatical coherence:

“I ain’t got it yet,” Bush said as Abu Mazen stopped speaking and an aide got on stage to fix the problem – which looked like it might have been an unplugged chord.

(As an interesting side note, “I ain’t got it yet” was changed to “I haven’t got it yet” in the official White House transcript…)

Number of Americans who approve of President Bush’s handling of the economy, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll. “With signs of economic stress abounding,” Bush’s numbers have dropped from 36 percent last month. Just 27 percent believe the country is “headed in the right direction, including fewer than half of Republicans.”

Conservative presidential candidates have expressed varying degrees of commitment to fighting global warming. Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee are unsure of whether the issue is “overblown.” Mitt Romney has echoed the Bush administration’s line, and Rudy Giuliani wants to rely more heavily on coal reserves.

In ten days, South Carolina will hold its pivotal Republican primary. With thousands of miles of shoreline and an agriculture and tourist-based economy, climate change will have a strong impact on the state.

The issue is particularly relevant to conservative candidates, as the vast majority of GOP voters in South Carolina crave strong leadership from presidential candidates on the issue:

According to a January 2007 poll conducted for the group Environmental Defense, 81 percent of South Carolina’s Republican voters believe the United States should reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

South Carolina’s Republican Governor Mark Sanford has commissioned a committee to create a climate action plan for the state. During the last legislative session, 90 House and 24 Senate members — split evenly between Republicans and Democrats — signed an open letter calling for presidential leadership on climate change.

Furthermore, in November, 108 of South Carolina’s mayors “signed a separate letter also calling on presidential candidates to speak out on climate change.

Tonight, the candidates will be in the state for Fox News’ “First-In-The-South” Republican debate, hosted by Chris Wallace and Brit Hume. The League of Conservation Voters has launched a campaign urging networks to discuss the issue with the candidates. Watch the video:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)’s leadership on climate change “gave him huge appeal to the Independents that he needed to pull-off a win” in New Hampshire. Will the other candidates listen to the South Carolina GOP and promise to combat global warming?

And will Wallace — who asked only two global warming-related questions in 2007 — ask the candidates about climate change tonight?