Bush's ratings are dropping like bombs ( oops ........perhaps he's getting caught up in some bad Karma!)
President Bush's Ratings Fall Sharply
President's Ratings Now 52% Positive, 46% Negative
Colin Powell Now the Only Cabinet Member or Political Leader with
Very High Ratings
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The last two months have taken a
heavy toll on the president's popularity, but a modest 52% to 46% majority
still gives him positive ratings. Two months ago, almost two-thirds of all
U.S. adults (64%) gave the president positive ratings and only just over a
third (35%) gave him negative ratings.
Other members of President Bush's cabinet, as well as the parties in
Congress and Congressional leaders, with one exception, have all seen a huge
decline in their popularity since the very high numbers we recorded soon after
September 11, 2001. The one exception is Secretary of State Colin Powell. He
still enjoys an extraordinarily high degree of popularity, with 76% giving him
positive ratings and only 21% giving him negative ratings. These numbers are
fractionally better than they were in December 2002, perhaps because of his
powerful recent testimony to the United Nations Security Council.
While none of the other leaders has seen as big declines since last
December as President Bush has, their numbers, nonetheless, are all down very
substantially since their peak soon after September 11, 2001.
Including results from the latest poll, we see the following declines in
popularity since soon after September 11, 2001:
* President Bush down from 88% to 52%, a decline of 36 points.
* Secretary of State Colin Powell down from 88% to 76%, a decline of 12
points.
* Vice President Dick Cheney down from 69% to 45%, a decline of 24
points.
* Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld down from 78% to 56%, a decline of
22 points.
* Attorney General John Ashcroft down from 65% to 51%, a decline of 14
points.
* House Speaker Dennis Hastert down from 52% to 33%, a decline of 19
points.
* The Republicans in Congress down from 67% to 43%, a decline of 24
points.
* The Democrats in Congress down from 68% to 38%, a decline of 30 points.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll(R), a nationwide
telephone survey conducted by Harris Interactive(R) among a sample of 1,010
adults, from February 12 to 16, 2003.
The Importance of Issues
In December only 18% of all adults spontaneously replied "the war" when
asked to think of the most important issues for the government to address.
This was far below the economy at 34% but ahead of all the other issues.
Now, fully 38% say that "the war" is one of the two most important issues
for the government to address, virtually tied with the economy at 37%.
Furthermore, the next two issues mentioned most frequently are terrorism (16%)
and Iraq/Saddam Hussein (15%). Most other issues which were mentioned by
substantial numbers of people have declined in importance: those saying
education are down from 11% to 5%, those saying homeland domestic security are
down from 9% to 6%, those saying employment/jobs are down from 8% to 5% and
those saying health care are down from 10% to 8%.
These responses were not picked from any list. They are the unaided
responses of those surveyed.
RATING DECLINES SINCE 9/11/01
POSITIVE RATINGS Soon December Now Change Change
After 2002 (February (December (9/11
9/11 2003) 2002 to to Now)
February
2003)
President
George Bush 88% 64% 52% -12 points -36 points
Secretary of State
Colin Powell 88% 74% 76% +2 points -12 points
Vice President
Dick Cheney 69% 50% 45% -5 points -24 points
Secretary of Defense
Ronald Rumsfeld 78% 59% 56% -3 points -22 points
Attorney General
John Ashcroft 65% 51% 51% 0 points -14 points
House Speaker
Dennis Hastert 52% 26% 33% +7 points -19 points
Republicans in
Congress 67% 47% 43% -4 points -24 points
Democrats in
Congress 68% 36% 38% +2 points -30 points
Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist NA 31% 37% +6 points (NA)
Note: (NA) = Not Applicable
TABLE 1
PRESIDENT BUSH'S OVERALL JOB RATING
"How would you rate the job President George W. Bush is doing as president -
excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"
Base: All adults
Positive* Negative**
2003 February % 52 46
2002 December % 64 35
November % 65 33
October % 64 35
September % 68 30
August % 63 37
July % 62 37
June % 70 28
May % 74 25
April % 75 23
March % 77 22
February % 79 20
January % 79 19
2001 December % 82 17
November % 86 12
October % 88 11
August % 52 43
July % 56 39
June % 50 46
May % 59 35
March % 49 38
February % 56 26
* Positive = excellent or good.
** Negative = only fair or poor.
TABLE 2
RATINGS OF DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS - TREND
(Not Sure's Excluded)
"And how do you rate the job Democrats in Congress are doing - excellent,
pretty good, only fair or poor?"
Base: All adults
TREND Positive Negative
2003 February % 38 54
2002 December % 36 55
November % 40 52
October % 40 52
September % 42 49
August % 38 54
July % 41 49
June % 45 46
May % 45 45
April % 47 42
March % 48 43
February % 49 41
January % 52 40
2001 October (high) % 68 24
May (low) % 40 51
2000 September (high) % 48 44
June (low) % 38 52
1999 October (low) % 42 50
January (high) % 50 47
1998 September (high) % 49 47
June (low) % 41 53
1997 June (low) % 36 60
February (high) % 43 54
1996 May (high) % 36 62
January (low) % 31 68
1995 November (high) % 34 64
July (low) % 30 66
1994 December % 28 70
TABLE 3
RATINGS OF REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS - TREND
(Not Sure's Excluded)
"And how do you rate the job Republicans in Congress are doing - excellent,
pretty good, only fair or poor?"
Base: All adults
TREND Positive Negative
2003 February % 43 49
2002 December % 47 47
November % 47 45
October % 46 45
September % 47 42
August % 41 49
July % 39 52
June % 46 45
May % 48 44
April % 49 39
March % 50 41
February % 50 40
January % 58 34
2001 October (high) % 67 24
August (low) % 37 52
2000 May (low) % 33 60
February (high) % 38 55
1999 October (low) % 32 58
September (high) % 39 55
1998 June (low) % 31 62
February (high) % 44 53
1997 June (low) % 31 67
February (high) % 38 58
1996 May (low) % 29 69
January (high) % 33 66
1995 November (low) % 35 63
April (high) % 42 56
TABLE 4
RATINGS OF DENNIS HASTERT - TREND
(Not Sure's Excluded)
"And how do you rate the job House Speaker Dennis Hastert is doing -
excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"
Base: All adults
TREND Positive Negative
2003 February % 33 34
2002 December % 26 33
November % 30 31
October % 30 29
September % 35 29
August % 29 35
July % 28 36
June % 34 31
May % 33 25
April % 32 26
March % 33 25
February % 37 25
January % 40 24
2001 October (high) % 52 16
August (low) % 27 29
2000 August (high) % 29 28
July (low) % 23 31
1999 October (low) % 25 34
April (high) % 36 39
TABLE 5
RATINGS OF VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY
(Not Sure's Excluded)
"And how do you rate the job Vice President Cheney is doing - excellent,
pretty good, only fair or poor?"
Base: All adults
TREND Positive Negative
2003 February % 45 44
2002 December % 50 37
November % 52 39
October % 54 37
September % 52 37
August % 45 43
July % 46 41
June % 55 34
May % 55 33
April % 55 31
March % 59 29
February % 57 31
January % 55 31
2001 October (high) % 69 20
July (low) % 39 52 |
