Poll shows majority in five Southern states disapproves of President Bush
Associated Press
Posted March 3 2006, 4:25 PM EST
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A majority of adults in five key Southern states disapproves of President Bush's job performance and says the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, according to an Elon University poll released Friday.
In the survey, 52 percent of respondents said they disapproved or strongly disapproved of Bush's job performance, compared to 43 percent who said they approved or strongly approved.
Asked whether the war with Iraq was worth fighting, a slim majority _ 51 percent _ said no, while just 44 percent said yes.
All five of the states polled _ Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida _ went to Bush in the 2004 presidential election by margins ranging from 58 percent in South Carolina and Georgia to 52 percent in Florida.
Less than 18 months later, Bush isn't even close to majority approval in any of those states.
``For him not to even break (50 percent), not to even approach it, says all you need to say,'' said Hunter Bacot, an Elon political science professor and director of the poll. ``In five 'red' states that have been ardent supporters of Bush, he can't even approach 50 percent.''</b.
The telephone survey of 1,277 adults was taken Feb. 20-23 and Feb. 26-March 2 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Recent national polls on the president's popularity have placed his overall approval rating in the mid to high 30s.
In the Elon poll, Georgia residents were the most supportive of Bush, with 48 percent saying they approved or strongly approved of his job performance, while 48 percent disapproved or strongly disapproved. Support for Bush was lowest in Florida, Virginia and North Carolina, at 42 percent.
Bacot said survey interviews indicated that the anti-terrorism and security issues that have played to the Republicans' advantage since Sept. 11, 2001, may no longer be working for them.
Fifty-six percent of people disapproved of Bush's handling of the Iraq conflict. In North Carolina and Florida, roughly 4 in 10 people surveyed expressed strong disapproval of the president on Iraq.
Fifty-two percent said they believe the Iraq war has put the United States more at risk of terrorist attack, compared to 31 percent who said America is now less at risk and 14 percent who said the risk remains about the same as it was before the war. And in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, more than 50 percent of respondents said they did not believe the Iraq war was worthwhile.
The survey's results echoed an earlier North Carolina-only poll by Elon that hinted Bush's troubles could hurt Republicans in November's mid-term congressional election.
Of those polled, 46 percent said they voted Republican in the 2004 presidential election, while 42 percent said they voted Democratic. When asked which party they will support this year, 33 percent said Democrats and 27 percent said Republicans.
``What jumps out at you here is the difference in drop-off for Democrats and Republicans,'' Bacot said, adding that Bush's unpopularity could prove a drag on Republican incumbents who won with 55 percent or less of the vote in 2004.
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