Check out this conclusion made by the Washington Post:

President Bush will begin his second term in office without a clear mandate to lead the nation, with strong disapproval of his policies in Iraq and the public both hopeful and dubious about his leadership on the issues that will dominate his agenda, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

A look at the actual poll questions should illustrate the problem. Just about every single question is worded, "Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is [doing whatever]". The problem with this type of question is that it is not specific enough. On the question of Iraq, liberals may think Bush is being too much of a hardliner while conservatives think he's being too soft on the terrorists. Both could easily cast their vote for "disapprove".

The same could be said for the economy, or education, of judicial appointments. As a conservative, I don't think Bush has done enough to make tax cuts permenent. I also think we spend way too much on government schools and that Bush isn't pushing his judicial appoints through effectively. I could easily vote "disapprove" in all three of those categories.

And in many of these polls, that is the whole point. The pollsters have a desired result, and they need only word the questions in such a way that yields the tally they want.

The Post concludes that there is "strong disapproval" of President Bush, but their poll fails to indicate whether detractors think he's doing too much or not doing enough.