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

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (719029)	12/20/2005 1:00:06 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Looks like the Presidential approval numbers largely track the feelings about the war in Iraq, and the economy (heavily influenced by energy prices), rising or falling with those numbers: Poll: Bush fails to sway public on Iraq By Susan Page, USA TODAYTue Dec 20, 7:39 AM ET news.yahoo.com The series of speeches President Bush delivered during the past three weeks defending the invasion of Iraq failed to buy patience for the war or convince more Americans that the conflict is part of a broader campaign against terrorism, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend. (Related: Poll results) The interviews with 1,003 adults nationwide were conducted Friday through Sunday, before Bush delivered an address to the nation Sunday and held a nationally televised news conference Monday. Those events may affect the public's perceptions of him and the war. Still, the findings underscore the task the president faces and explains why he has been emphasizing particular points - including his views that the war in Iraq is a critical part of the war on terrorism, that it would be wrong to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and that the United States is winning. In the poll: • A record 55% say the war in Iraq is entirely separate from the war on terrorism that began with the Sept. 11 attacks, the first time a majority has held that opinion. • Six of 10 think the United States should deploy a significant number of troops in Iraq for another year or less, though just 17% predict the United States will achieve that timetable. • A 56% majority say Bush doesn't have a plan to achieve victory in Iraq, about the same as the 55% who held that view the night he delivered the first of four speeches. Half of those surveyed say neither side is winning in Iraq; 40% say the United States is winning. A 52% majority say it was a mistake to send troops. One bright spot for Bush: 50% predict last week's elections in Iraq will be a major step to help the United States achieve its goals there. The poll's margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points. At his news conference Monday, Bush dismissed a question about his decline in the polls. "My job is to confront big challenges and lead, and I fully understand everybody is not going to agree with my decisions," he said. "But the president's job is to do what he thinks is right, and that's what I'm going to continue to do." Bush's job-approval rating was 41%, a bit higher than his historic low of 37% last month but down a point or two from earlier in December. For the first time a majority, 53%, said they had an unfavorable impression of him. Copyright © 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.