Bush Hits Career Low in Approval http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/PollVault/story?id=1117357 ABC News Poll Finds That Katrina Response Ratings Worsen Analysis by GARY LANGER Sept. 12, 2005 -- Public views of the federal government's hurricane response have grown sharply more critical in the last week, pushing George W. Bush's leadership and performance ratings to career lows. A record 57 percent of Americans now disapprove of his work overall. Issues Approve Disapprove Terrorism 50% 47% Katrina 44 54 Overall job 42 57 Economy 40 58 Iraq 38 62 Gas prices 25 72 As striking as Bush's rating — his disapproval is higher than the worst for either of his last two two-term predecessors — is the intensity of sentiment against him: Forty-five percent of Americans "strongly" criticize Bush's performance in office, an unusually deep well of disapproval. Far fewer, 27 percent, strongly approve. Bush gets 50-50 ratings for strong leadership and for trust in a crisis — long his strong suits, both now down sharply to career lows. A record 61 percent say he doesn't understand their problems. And his ratings on other issues have soured as well: A record 62 percent disapprove of his work on Iraq. On the economy, 58 percent disapprove; on gas prices, it's 72 percent. Even on handling terrorism, long the keystone of his support, half now approve of Bush's performance. One brighter spot for the administration is the nomination of John Roberts as chief justice of the Unitef States: Fifty-five percent support his confirmation. KATRINA — On Katrina, opinion has moved further away from Bush and his administration. Fifty-four percent now disapprove of his work on the hurricane, up seven points from an ABC News/Washington Post poll Sept. 2, four days after the storm hit the Gulf Coast. What had been essentially an even division on Bush's response is now disapproval by a 10-point margin. More, 62 percent, rate the overall federal response negatively, up 11 points from initial public attitudes. Sixty-three percent say that two weeks after the hurricane hit, the administration still lacks a clear plan on how to handle it; rather than recovering its footing, the administration has lost eight points on this measure since Sept. 2. And three-quarters of Americans favor a 9/11 commission-style investigation of the hurricane response, apart from anything Congress might be planning. There may be repercussions as well for administration policy on taxes: Nearly six in 10 Americans say consideration of tax cuts should be set aside for the time being. RACE — The survey also finds a profound division between black and white Americans in their perceptions of the disaster response. Blacks overwhelmingly say hurricane preparedness and response were shortchanged because of the race and poverty of many of those affected, and call it a sign of broader racial inequality in this country. Whites are far less likely to see it that way. Questions Yes,whites No,whites Yes,blacks No,blacks Did poverty and race affect hurricane protection? 28% 69% 71% 27% Did race and poverty affect speed of response? 24 73 76 21 Is relief effort indication of broader racial inequality? 25 73 63 36 Does Bush care about black people? 65 28 26 68 Seven in 10 blacks, for instance, believe New Orleans would have received better flood protection and emergency preparedness resources if it had been a wealthier, whiter city, rather than a largely poor, African-American one. Fewer than three in 10 whites agree. Similarly, 76 percent of blacks think the federal government would have responded more quickly to rescue people trapped by floodwaters if more of them had been wealthy and white rather than poorer and black. Fewer than a quarter of whites share that view. And among blacks, fewer but still a sizable majority, 63 percent, think problems with the hurricane relief effort are an indication of broader racial inequality. Among whites, a quarter agree. There's the further issue of perceptions of Bush's own empathy. Sixty-eight percent of blacks think he doesn't care about the problems facing black people in this country; among whites, that declines to 28 percent. And even more blacks — 88 percent, more than in any other group— say Bush doesn't understand the problems of people like them. PARTISANSHIP — On explicitly racial issues, views depend heavily on racial perspectives. On broader political issues, though, it's partisanship that counts the most (and blacks are the most loyal Democratic voting bloc). Overall, for example, 84 percent of blacks disapprove of Bush's job performance, and 69 percent disapprove strongly — but those ratings are essentially no different than they've been all year, and are much the same among black and white Democrats alike. Similarly, seven in 10 Republicans approve of the president's performance on Katrina, compared with only 22 percent of Democrats — with white and black Democrats again in general agreement. Putting some blame on the victims is another area, and a less explicitly political one, in which differences are more partisan than racial. This poll asked what was a bigger problem — that some people stayed in the hurricane's path because they didn't take the warnings seriously, or that some people had no way to leave and the government failed to provide transportation. Six in 10 Republicans say it was the former; six in 10 Democrats say the latter, with similar views among black and white Democrats alike. Anger at the government's response also is more partisan than racial. Just over six in 10 Democrats are angry about it, regardless of their race, compared with just under a quarter of Republicans. These results are from an ABC News/Washington Post poll on Hurricane Katrina and other topics that will be released in its entirety at 5 p.m. today. The poll was conducted by telephone Sept. 8-11, 2005, among a random national sample of 1,201 adults, including an oversample of 200 black respondents. The results have a three-point error margin. Fieldwork by TNS of Horsham, Pa.
And I discovered, while in the shower this morning, that YES water is indeed wet. A towel helps dry it off. Weird, eh? I'm not a big Bill Maher fan, but I do agree with him on one thing....I think it's high time for a good old California-style nationwide Presidential recall election, one where we have about 300 different candidates to choose from. Hmmm....Gary Coleman or Mary Carey...decisions, decisions.....
I knew that this fall off would be here by now. One of the biggest reasons George won re-election was John Kerry beccame an effective foil to Bush's character. As much as I destest George W Bush, I admit he has had an effective PR crew. He has managed to carefully crafted his image at the right times; ultimately, leading to people to give him a few "Get out of Jail" cards. Some people excuse George's actions because they call him names like stupid, dumb or r****d. The matter is just being swept under the rug with these terms. George is not stupid by any means. He deliberately lies to the American public in order to appeal with the masses. Take the Iraq war, he knew he was not going to Baghdad over the of evidence of WMD. Sure, this was a personal grudge that needed to be settled by the President, but George and crew were only following the Wolfowitz Doctrine in the end. His politics have actively been trying to cement Republican power in American government, specifically the neoconservative doctrine. If you still support Bush today for his policies or character of the past years, you are either a neoconservative or a sheep in the truest sense. Even Republicans are distancing themselves from George in their re-election campaigns. Maybe it's time we reevaluate the administration and have some justice.
I'm just so relieved that Al Gore/John Kerry didn't have to lead this nation in the aftermath of 9/11, in the War on Terror, and in the wake of a great natural disaster like Katrina. This nation would have surely become a one-party nation. And let's not forget the dot-com bomb... Did I leave anything out?
You honestly believe Gore or Kerry would have done a worse job than what we have now? Don't tell me you have fallen victim to the image projector too!
LOL! Is this Bush's last straw? Seriously though, what EXACTLY Bush did in the aftermath of 9/11 (assuming it would have still occurred under Gore admin) that other U.S. presidents would NOT possibly do to make America safe? Is my sarcasm meter broken or what?
Well the team of Clinton/Gore did a bang up job in 1995... Remember the Chicago heatwave: in a 5 day span 759 people died. Funny I never heard of any investigations or people running out to buy window units...seems as if were just swept under the rug.
Based on what? What exact history events, past actions from Al Gore/John Kerry, statistic data, or theory do you base your conclusion on? What makes you think that John Kerry wouldn't be able to capture OBL four years after 9/11? What makes you think that John Kerry would throw American troops in Iraq with insufficient preparation and little support from allies, let hundreds brave soldiers die for a lie, tens of thousands innocent civilians be killed? What makes you think that John Kerry would not deal with the aftermath of Katrina better, by not continuing his vacation at a national disaster, by not praising not placing an totally imcompetent FEMA chief? The whole New Orleans is gone, what could be even worse? If you feel relieved that any of those could even be avoided or dealt better with Al Gore/John Kerry, but still so happy to have GWB, then, why do you hate America?
1. What is catching OBL going to prove? That he's a martyr. 2. Bush's army would have been Kerry's army. 3. People die in war. It's tragic. 4. Bush's vacation put him closer to the events of Katrina. What did he do wrong? Turn off his phones? 5. He offered encouragement to Brown. What would you have done IN THAT MOMENT? You are supposed to encourage people when they are faced with a tough job. 6. I don't, for a moment, think that Gore/Kerry could have done a better job, so I'm glad they lost the elections. I love America.
What evidence or certainty can you offer that they would have done better? That it's easy to criticize those undertaking monumental tasks? That's a real qualifier. Can you name a US president (besides Abe Lincoln) who has had to deal with more problems in this country than GWB? He was sitting president when the dot-com bubble burst, on 9/11/2005, and when New Orleans was wasted by a natural disaster than had not been properly prepared for in decades. Did he cause any of those?
How could anyone have done worse? I voted for the idiot the first time and while John Kerry was not my cup of tea, he couldnt be worse than what we have now. GWB may be the worst thing that has ever happened to this country and I cannot fathom how ANYONE can support him. Its almost as if GWB looks at a situation, finds the best possible action, and then does the exact opposite. I would say that he is stupid but even stupid people know that what he has done in many situations is unthinkable.
Can you name a US president (besides Abe Lincoln) who has had to deal with more problems in this country than GWB? FDR.
