http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-29-gallup-poll_x.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno Poll: Bush approval ratings hit lowest point of tenure WASHINGTON (USATODAY.com) — President Bush's job approval ratings have hit the lowest point of his tenure and the number of Americans with an unfavorable opinion of him has reached 50% for the first time, according to a Gallup poll released Friday. Forty-four percent of Americans approve of the way Bush is handling his job, according to the poll, while 51% disapprove. That is a four-point drop from Bush's approval rating of July 22-24 and 1% below his previous low of 45% in a poll taken June 24-26. Bush's approval ratings have now been at 50% or lower since mid-March. The poll also puts Bush's unfavorable rating among Americans at the highest level of his presidency — 50%. Forty-eight percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of the president, marking the first time in Bush's tenure that his unfavorable rating is higher than his favorable rating. In contrast, a Gallup poll in late November of 2001, less than three months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, put Bush's favorable rating at 87% and his unfavorable rating at 11%. Bush's previous low favorable rating came twice in October 2004, when 51% of Americans had a favorable opinion of the president and 46% had an unfavorable opinion. The poll also indicated the public had a pessimistic outlook about the general direction of the country and the economy. Forty percent of Americans said they were satisfied with the way things are going in the United States, and 58% said they were dissatisfied. Those numbers are close to the lowest measurements of Bush's presidency in April, when 38% of Americans said they were satisfied with the country's direction and 58% said they were dissatisfied. On the economy, 32% of Americans said conditions were in excellent or good shape, with 67% saying they were in fair or poor shape. Fifty-three percent of Americans said the economy was getting worse, while 35% said it was getting better and 9% said it was about the same. The poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,010 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 to 5 percentage points, depending on the question.
Well this comes a little too late. He is already President and isn't running for re-election. But it does mean Democrats have more firepower during the next election. And Bush has less leverage over Congress. Of course, Congress is already controlled by the Republicans. So basically it means very little right now.
People are very fickle, and tend to give a lot of blame (or credit) to the president for things he has very little control over. If a person has a good job, things are basically going well, they tend to favor the incumbents. If life is sucking lately, they have a "throw the bums out!" mentality. It has very little to do with who is president and what their policies really are. I bet not more than 5 percent of the people in that poll could form one coherent sentence explaining why they approve or disapprove of President Bush.
And I would bet that you are wrong, Jeffster. Look around and what do you see? A governing party run by extremists. Record deficits. A soaring national debt that will double, at least, by the time Bush leaves office. A war that is a disaster, with no end in sight. Relations with our allies that are troubled, at best, and as bad as they have been in decades with most of them. A scandal that reaches to the man closest to the President. Tax cuts during a war! Our auto industry struggling to remain relevant to the American people. Declared enemies actively building, or attempting to build, nuclear weapons while we're in that morass of a war. A host of lies told by this Administration to get the public to back the invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation that wasn't a clear and present danger to our country. Policies that so favor big business that corporate America shakes it's head in amazement. One could make a very long list of reasons for the American people to decide they're not happy with the Bush Administration. The American people can be slow to figure out just what is happening to them, and who's responsible. Eventually, however, they start to "get it." What we are seeing, in my opinion, is the American people rubbing the crap out of their eyes, shaking their heads, and wondering just what in the hell made them elect this fool, George W. Bush, President. Twice. Keep D&D Civil!!
John Kerry's lack of any charisma. I really believe if he was even a quarter of what Clinton was in that department, he would have won. How much better would it be, though, considering the majority of Republicans in the house and senate?
The economy is firing on all cylinders right now. Excellent condition. Jobs, GDP growth, you name it. People who claim that the economy is in "fair to poor shape" are not paying attention.
People who claim that the economy is "firing on all cylinders" while not paying attention to the fact that the benefit of the "sizzling economy" is going to the top 1% of wage-earners, while the middle class is being squeezed to death, are deluded parrots for the worst President in American history.
Other than the record deficits, dependance on foreign oil with record prices, health care costs that are spiraling out of control and our national retirement picture as bleek as ever (with failing pensions systems and SS)...other than that, our economy is great. Bigtexxx, things do actually look good right now...but we are mortgaging our future. That's my fear, anyway, and I doubt I'm alone.
But the other side says the opposite of all that stuff. That's my point. The average person just goes on what they percieve, not detailed analysis of anything. Two people look at the same country or even the same community and come to completely different conclusions about the state of things.
Lack of any real alternative, that's what our faolous "democracy" has come down to when you have a political system monopolized by two giant special interest groups in desguise, both catering to big corporations that are repaying all of us by moving jobs overseas. The people elected the "devil" they knew during a time of war, when historically no sitting president has ever lost a re-election during war time (this alone should be enough of an incentive for every president to start a conflict during his/her first term). Welcome to the American Plutocracy.
Believe it or not, millions of Americans voted for Bush because they agree with his policies. I know that's a difficult concept for most liberals to understand.
If I am not mistaken, you work in the oil industry, am I correct? If so, then yourself, every oil company, and every single leading oil-producing country are doing better than they ever have! The Saudis are repaying their debts from the Gulf War I at an astronamical pace, the Qataris and the Kuwaitis are doing great, the Iranians are generating massive revenues... It IS a great time to be associated with the oil industry in any way or fashion.
What was the % break down again? seems like it is 51% to 49%. So now the swing voters are regreting voting for Bush. His core votes still believe him to be a great president, but they do not make up a majority of Americans.
"We is winnin tha war on terr'er out there we winnin tha war i tell ya! We makin real good progriss in tha desert -- tha harts 'n minds of tha iwrecky peepills is wit us. We just need tuh stay tha course now ya see. Aint no sense turnin back now. Anothur eight, nine hundrid billions 'n i tell ya i tell ya, there's gonna be some mighty big sunlight at tha end uh that there cave tunnil"
People who voted for Bush are people who believe the world begins and ends with either their bank balance or their bible. Or both.
