President Approval Rating All Time Low

[BurnSide]

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Bush Approval Rating Lowest Ever for 2nd-Term Prez at this Point

NEW YORK It's not uncommon to hear or read pundits referring to President George W. Bush as a "popular" leader or even a "very popular" one. Even some of his critics in the press refer to him this way. Perhaps they need to check the latest polls.

President Bush's approval rating has plunged to the lowest level of any president since World War II at this point in his second term, the Gallup Organization reported today.

All other presidents who served a second term had approval ratings well above 50% in the March following their election, Gallup reported.

Presidents Truman and Johnson had finished out the terms of their predecessors, and then won election on their own for a second term.

Bush's current rating is 45%. The next lowest was Reagan with 56% in March 1985.

More bad signs for the president: Gallup's survey now finds only 38% expressing satisfaction with the "state of the country" while 59% are "dissatisfied." One in three Americans feel the economy is excellent or good, while the rest find it "only fair" or poor.

Gallup noted that more challenges lie ahead for Bush, including public doubts about his Social Security plan and Iraq policies.

Here are the approval ratings for presidents as recorded by Gallup (all for March):

Truman, 1949: 57%.

Eisenhower, 1957: 65%.

Johnson, 1965: 69%.

Nixon, 1973: 57%.

Reagan, 1985: 56%.

Clinton, 1997: 59% .

Bush, 2005: 45% .

ABC News

Source

Bush Performance Ratings Plummet

June 7, 2005 — The corrosive influence of the war in Iraq and a disconnect with the public on political priorities are casting a pall over the early months of George W. Bush's second term.

Fifty-two percent of Americans now disapprove of Bush's performance in office, the most (albeit by a single point) in ABC News/Washington Post polls since his presidency began. Forty-eight percent approve.

While that's still nearly an even division on Bush (with continued sharp polarization between Democrats and Republicans), intensity of sentiment is running against him: Thirty-eight percent "strongly" disapprove of his performance, compared with 27 percent who strongly approve.

That reflects Bush's weakness among political independents, who are nearly three times more likely to strongly disapprove than to strongly approve of his work overall.

The continued difficulties in Iraq are a sharp thorn. Just 41 percent of Americans now approve of Bush's handling of the situation there, while 58 percent disapprove, matching his career-high disapproval on Iraq. Bush hasn't seen majority approval for his work on Iraq in nearly a year and a half.

More broadly, the poll finds a disconnect in terms of Bush's agenda: As his second term progresses, 58 percent say he's not concentrating on things that are important to them personally, while 41 percent say he is. Again, Democrats are roundly critical on this score, and Republicans overwhelmingly supportive; the difference is in the center, among independents, who say by 68 percent-32 percent that Bush is not focusing on their concerns.

This initial summary of the latest ABC/Post poll will be updated with a fuller analysis at 5 p.m. today. This survey was conducted Thursday through Sunday among a random national sample of 1,002 adults. The results have a three-point error margin.

CNN

Source

Bush approval mark nears low

(CNN) -- President Bush's job approval rating dropped to near its lowest point and Congress received poor marks as well in a national poll released Monday.

Forty-six percent of 1,006 adults polled over the weekend said they approved of the overall job Bush is doing, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

Over the past year, Bush's rating has hovered near 50 percent, with a low of 45 percent in March and a high of 57 percent just after his second inauguration and the State of the Union in February.

The 46 percent figure is down about 4 percentage points since a poll taken at the beginning of May.

The approval rating poll question, asked by telephone on May 20-May 22, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Pollsters split some questions on specific issues between two "half groups" of respondents. Those questions had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

On domestic issues, the president's approval ratings are at an all-time low -- 40 percent of respondents approve of his work on the economy and 33 percent approve of his plans for Social Security changes.

Bush fared best among respondents when they were asked if they approved or disapproved how how he was handling terrorism.

But while 55 percent of the people taking part in the poll approved, that figure was down 2 percentage points from a poll taken in April.

On the Iraq war, the president's approval mark remained low -- just 40 percent of those agreed with the way he is handling the situation.

Most of those surveyed (52 percent) said they think Bush has "the personality and leadership qualities a president should have."

But many said they differ on the issues that matter most to them -- 57 percent disagreed with the president, while 40 percent said they agreed.

[__Kratos__]

Can't blame me, I voted against him...

I think everybody is sick of him because of his lack of interest in important areas. He'd rather be hanging out with his saudi friends then talk with North Korea.

[BurnSide]

The N. Korea nuke talks are set to resume at least.