Poll: Bush popularity plummets
President George Bush’s job approval rating has dropped to 52%, close to the lowest level of his presidency, according to a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll.
Before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Bush’s standing was at 51%.
His handling of the war on terror then sent his popularity skyrocketing to 90% in some polls, ratings that gradually drifted back towards average levels.
During the summer, Bush’s standing has been in the mid to high 50s in several polls.
“We’re right back where we started,” said Frank Newport, executive editor of The Gallup Poll. “The public still perceives the economy is poor. We don’t see a sign of consumer pickup in our data.
There’s little question that Iraq is not helping and is probably hurting him.”
Gallup interviewed 1,025 adults between Monday and Wednesday for the poll, after Bush’s nationally televised address on Iraq. A Time-CNN poll released before the speech also showed Bush with a 52% approval rating.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Asked if the Bush administration has a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, almost six in 10 – 59% – said no, while four in 10 said yes.
Fewer than half – 45% – approve of the president’s dealings on the economy, and just over half – 52% – approve of his handling of foreign policy, down from 68% in May after Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. About half, 51%, approved of the president’s handling of Iraq, down from 76% in mid-April when Saddam Hussein’s regime was toppled.
Support remains strong for Bush’s ability to deal with the terrorist threat, with 64% approving.
Four in 10 say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States, with 58% dissatisfied. That is about the level of satisfaction in early March before the start of the war with Iraq.
The number who say the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over has dropped from 63% in August to 58%.
More than half, 51%, are opposed to Congress authorising the additional 87 billion the president has requested for Iraq and the war on terrorism.
