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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (494325)	11/17/2003 4:25:06 PM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 769667

President's poll ratings still flagging By Richard Benedetto, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — Escalating violence in Iraq and growing public unease triggered by mounting American deaths there have eroded President Bush's personal and job approval ratings in the past several months. They're at or near the lowest points measured since he took office, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows. (Related link: Poll results) The findings may signal a changing composition of the political landscape as the 2004 presidential campaign begins in earnest. They suggest that with an economic recovery still struggling to emerge and an uncertain postwar picture, the public is reassessing previous conclusions about Bush as a man and as a leader. And they show that where the Republican president once was considered a solid re-election favorite, his chances of winning a second term now look no better than a tossup. Registered voters who say they will vote for him in the next election are about equal to those who say they will vote against him. About one in eight remain undecided. "Right now it is anybody's ball game, but if I were betting, I would still bet on Bush. There is still a long way to go," says Stephen Wayne, a Georgetown University political scientist. Wayne cites Bush's advantage of incumbency and money as key factors in his evaluation. But the poll shows that Bush has weaknesses as well. Forty-two percent say Bush is in touch with the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives. He earns a 49% yes-50% no split on whether he is in touch with the needs of poll respondents — his lowest rating since taking office. Forty-eight percent say he can get the economy moving. Over the past several months, Bush has taken his sharpest hits on overall job approval. In April, when the war in Iraq looked like a rout, 71% approved of the job Bush was doing. Seven months later, with the administration struggling to halt almost-daily attacks on troops in Iraq, Americans are nearly split over the president's leadership: • 50% approve of the job he is doing; 47% disapprove. That equals the lowest approval and highest disapproval of his presidency, hit in late September, when the post-combat phase of the Iraqi operation worsened and terrorist attacks escalated. Better economic news in October helped boost Bush ratings a bit, but increased violence in Iraq this month has pushed the economy out of the headlines and raised further questions about the effectiveness of Bush's policies. On the personal side, though the American public is not as admiring of Bush as it was in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, his ratings are still solid. • Regardless of how they rate the job he is doing, 68% say they approve of him as a person, 59% say he is honest and trustworthy and 66% say he is a strong and decisive leader. "The presidency is a performance-based office, but in elections, strong personal characteristics are bound to help in some way. I would say the president is weakened, but not yet weak," says Karlyn Bowman, polling analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. The poll of 1,004 adults was taken Friday-Sunday and has an error margin of +/-3 percentage points; +/-4 points on the registered voter questions. usatoday.com