Poll: Bush Has Broad Public Support
Thu Jan 24, 8:19 PM ET
By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has built broad support in public opinion during his first year in office, making him a tough target for Democrats trying to find their election-year footing, a new poll suggests.
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That support includes broad backing on the economy and on education that bolsters the very high ratings he has gotten for his handling of the anti-terror campaign, according to the Battleground 2002 poll released Thursday.
Republicans had a 7-point lead on handling the issue of education, reversing the double-digit lead Democrats had in the late 1990s.
Those ratings, including Bush's continued high job approval rate of 84 percent, could help him avoid the fate that befell his father whose high poll ratings during the Gulf War evaporated six months later because of the struggling economy.
"The terrorist attacks were a much different event from the Gulf War," said GOP pollster Ed Goeas, who did the poll with Democrat Celinda Lake. Goeas said six in 10 in the survey strongly approve of the job done by the current President Bush. Fewer than four in 10 felt that way about his father in 1991.
At this point in 1991, people were about evenly split on how the father of the current president was handling the economy. The public currently approves of Bush's performance on the economy by almost a 3-to-1 margin. The economy is clearly the No. 1 issue, chosen by twice the number who said terrorism.
The public was about evenly split on congressional Democrats' handling the economy, making it tough for them to attack Bush on the issue.
The public's preference for a Democrat or a Republican member of Congress is about evenly split. And Democrat Lake said there are opportunities for Democrats in the public's concern over the cost of health care, the future of Social Security and job creation.
But she noted the president's stronger standings on education and the economy, if they persist, could boost GOP chances in the 2002 congressional elections.
Democrats have the advantage on health care, Social Security and protecting the middle class. Democrats have the advantage among elderly voters, who are likely to make up more than a fourth of the electorate in an off-year election.
Republicans have the advantage on priority issues from education to the economy to fighting terrorism — an edge built up since the Battleground poll last April.
"Republicans also hold a substantial advantage on values," Lake said. Republican strength on values and education have helped them break even with Democrats among women in this poll, bolstering their support among suburban women. Democrats had a small lead among all women in the April poll.
The latest poll of 1,000 voters was taken Jan. 6-8 and had an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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