Bush Approval Rating Sinks to 36% on War Concern, Poll Shows
March 13 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's job- approval rating fell to a record low in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, as concern about the Iraq conflict approaches levels of public discontent during the last years of the Vietnam War.
Bush's approval rating fell to 36 percent, according to the poll of 1,001 adults conducted March 10-12. That's down from 38 percent two weeks ago and 52 percent a year earlier. About half of those surveyed, 51 percent, described Bush as a ``weak president,'' up two percentage points from when the question was last asked in November. Forty-nine percent said they viewed Bush as a ``strong president.''
With the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion next week and the number of U.S. military deaths surpassing 2,300, the poll showed a growing number of Americans characterize the Iraq invasion as a mistake and an increasing majority gauges the conflict as progressing badly. White House officials acknowledge that the war is sapping Bush's political strength.
``Right now, the president's approval rating is not that strong,'' Al Hubbard, director of the White House's National Economic Council, said in a speech earlier today in Arlington, Virginia. ``That has a lot to do with Iraq.''
Pessimism about the war also is souring consumer sentiment, Hubbard said.
Views on War
Fifty-seven percent of the respondents said going to war in Iraq was a mistake, up from 55 percent in the previous poll and the highest level of discontent over the war since September 2005, the survey found. The rating is close to public sentiment during the Vietnam War, when the number of Americans who believed the conflict in Southeast Asia was a mistake reached a record 61 percent in May 1971, according to the CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey.
The number of Americans who believe the Iraq war is going badly for the U.S. rose to 60 percent, from 53 percent in a January questionnaire and the highest since June 2004, the survey showed.
For most of Bush's five years in office, polls have showed Americans have favored Republicans over Democrats by a wide margin on the issue of fighting terrorism. The poll released today suggested that gap is narrowing.
Forty-one percent of respondents said Democrats would handle terrorism better, compared with 45 percent endorsing Bush's Republican Party, the survey said. That's marked shift from a July 2003 survey that showed 55 percent favoring Republicans and 27 percent backing Democrats on terrorism, according to data released by CNN and USA Today.
Democrats also got an 8 percentage point advantage over Republicans on who best would handle Iraq and a 15 point edge on dealing with the economy.
On the U.S. economy, 59 percent of the respondents said it was in good shape, up from 53 percent in September poll and the highest since April 2002, according to the survey, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The poll also showed Americans' outlook is improving, as 60 percent said the economy will be in good condition in a year, up from 49 percent in September and the highest since December 2004, the survey showed.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Brendan Murray in Washington at brmurray@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 13, 2006 17:32 EST |
