THE NEW TIME POLL has some good news for Bush:
Instapundit
President Bush's approval rating has risen to 53%, according to the latest TIME poll conducted January 12 and 13. His approval rating is up 4 points from his Dec. 13-14 approval rating of 49%. The President's approval numbers have improved across a variety of issues, including his handling of the economy (51% approve, up from 40% approve in September), his handling of the situation in Iraq (45% approve, up from 41% approval in September), and his handling of the war on terrorism (56% approve, up from 49% in September).
Numbers on Social Security reform, however, are not as good: "When asked if they favor President Bush's plan to allow people to invest part of their social security payroll tax in stocks and bonds, 47% oppose the plan while 44% support it." Then again, these may well by high by historical standards.
Meanwhile, Jason van Steenwyk notes a poll that hasn't gotten much attention -- an Army Times poll of the troops:
The Army Times has published the results of the latest survey of Army Times subscribers, more than 2/3rds of whom are on active duty.
Here are the highlights:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Pres. Bush is handling the situation in Iraq?
Approve: 63%
Disapprove: 20%
No opinion: 8%
Declined to answer: 9%
Notably, Bush's approval ratings on the war have increased substantially among this group, rising from 56% in 2003 to 63% in 2004.
Apparently, they think things are going better than the news reports would have us believe. Jason also notes that almost nobody reported this poll. |
