Well, the bounce seems to have begun on 9/11, so maybe the memorials and Bush's speech later that evening stirred something in those being polled, and it has carried forward till last night. By Monday next week, we should be able to tell if it is a lasting trend, or merely an emotional bump.
Edit: And, just for discussion purposes, we should focus more on the percentage change, and not the 47% level itself. A 6% change (if it is truly a national event) since 9/11 should be visible on other polls taken during the same period. A quick glance at RCP doesn't show any other polls yet for that period.
The new NBC/WSJ poll was taken from 9/8-9/11, and has him at 42% (a two-point gain from before). Gallup had it at 39% from 9/7-10 (a slight drop from a week or two earlier).
I'd agree that the 9/11-fest in the media probably bumped it up a few points, as is evident from the Rasmussen polling, but it's doubtful that such a bounce can be sustained once that fades. The polls show little evidence of gains for Bush or the GOP on most specific issues (except perhaps terrorism).
