FROM A TIME PRESS RELEASE in this morning’s email:

CONTROVERSIAL SPYING PROGRAM COULD GIVE POLITICAL BOOST TO PRESIDENT BUSH

New York, NY-There was a time-say, four years and nine months ago-when news that the government had been gathering up the country’s phone records might have been the making of a scandal, or even a constitutional crisis. But although there have been protests from civil libertarians and some criticism on Capitol Hill, early indications suggest the revelation could actually give a political boost to President George W. Bush, reports TIME’s Karen Tumulty in the new issue of TIME, on newsstands Monday, May 15th.

This should be interesting. Let’s see if Bush’s approval jumps in the next round of polls.

UPDATE: Well, that didn’t take long: “President Bush’s job approval rating has jumped six points in the wake of a media barrage of criticism over his administration’s telephone records collection program.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Dave Weigel emails that the story above is unreliable, comparing two polls with different methodology. So I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out.