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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (239043)	6/28/2005 2:48:27 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1571412

Poll: U.S. confidence in Iraq war slides Bush prepares prime-time speech to mark year since handoff Tuesday, June 28, 2005 Posted: 1843 GMT (0243 HKT) The CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll also found that only 37 percent of those responding believe President Bush has a clear plan for the 2-year-old war there. Forty-five percent of the 1,009 people questioned Friday through Sunday said they did not believe the United States ever would establish a stable government in Iraq, and 53 percent said they believe the war was a mistake. Most questions in the survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The latest numbers underscore a slide in public confidence that Bush will attempt to check with a prime-time speech on the conflict Tuesday night -- the first anniversary of the restoration of the nation's sovereignty by coalition officials. Of those surveyed, 51 percent said they want the United States to set a timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq, and 44 percent said they would be willing to keep American forces there for several more years. Last week, a bipartisan quartet of congressmen introduced a resolution that would call for Bush to submit a plan by year's end for an American pullout by the end of 2006. But the president has said repeatedly that announcing any schedule for a withdrawal would allow insurgents to wait out U.S. troops. "It is a critical moment in Iraq," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Monday. "The terrorists are seeking to shake our will and weaken our resolve. They know that they cannot win unless we abandon the mission before it is complete." But barely a third of those polled -- 34 percent -- said the United States is winning the conflict against a persistent insurgency; 14 percent said the insurgents were winning and 50 percent said neither side had the upper hand. The president's own approval rating fell to 45 percent in the most recent poll, and 53 percent said they disapproved of his job performance -- the highest disapproval mark of his presidency to date. (Full story) Just 40 percent said they approved of Bush's handling of the war, a figure unchanged from the last poll in late May, and 58 percent disapproved -- a 2-percentage-point increase. Sixty-one percent said they believed Bush had no clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, compared to 37 percent who said he did. The last time the question was posed, in January, the margin was nearly even. Fifty-three percent of those polled said they believe the March 2003 invasion was a mistake, and 46 percent said they believe launching the war was the right thing to do. Only 43 percent said they believed the war in Iraq has made Americans safer from terrorism, and 46 percent said it had made the country less safe. That question had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. continued............ edition.cnn.com

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (239043)	6/28/2005 2:52:22 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1571412

Poll: Disapproval of Bush at high point Tuesday, June 28, 2005 Posted: 1848 GMT (0248 HKT) (CNN) -- The number of Americans disapproving of President Bush's job performance has risen to the highest level of his presidency, according to the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday. According to the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Bush's performance, compared to 45 percent who approved. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points. The 53 percent figure was the highest disapproval rating recorded in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll since Bush became president in January 2001. The approval percentage -- 45 percent -- matches a low point set in late March. The 8-point gap between those who disapproved and approved was the largest recorded during Bush's tenure. As Bush prepares to address the nation Tuesday to defend his Iraq policy, just 40 percent of those responding to the poll said they approved of his handling of the war; 58 percent said they disapproved. (Full story) The approval rating on Iraq was unchanged from a poll in late May, and the disapproval figure marked an increase of 2 percentage points. But the poll also found that issues other than the Iraq war may be dragging down Bush's numbers. Respondents expressed even stronger disapproval of his handling of the economy, energy policy, health care and Social Security. The lone bright spot for the president in the poll was his handling of terrorism, which scored a 55 percent approval rating, compared to just 41 percent who disapproved. The president's worst numbers in the latest poll came on the issue of Social Security, with respondents disapproving of his performance by a margin of more than 2-to-1 -- 64 percent to 31 percent. Bush has made changing the Social Security system a signature issue of his second term. He has proposed creating voluntary government-sponsored personal retirement accounts for workers 55 and younger. Under his proposal, workers could invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in a range of government-selected funds in exchange for lower guaranteed benefits at retirement. The plan has run into stiff opposition from Democrats, who say the accounts are too risky and will undermine the Social Security system. Some Republicans also are wary of taking on such a politically risky idea. On the economy, only 41 percent of poll respondents said they approved of Bush's performance, compared to 55 percent who disapproved. On energy policy, only 36 percent approved, while 53 percent disapproved; and on health care, 34 percent approved and 59 percent disapproved. The poll results were based on interviews from Friday to Sunday with 1,009 American adults. edition.cnn.com