WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A mere 7% of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States, the lowest satisfaction reading in Gallup history. This finding, from a weekend USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Oct. 10-12 after a week of devastating losses on Wall Street, is down 2 points from the previous record low of 9% recorded just over a week ago. Prior to this month, Gallup's lowest satisfaction reading had been 12%, measured in 1979.
At the same time that a record-low number of Americans say they are satisfied with the state of the country, a record-high number, 71%, say they disapprove of the job President George W. Bush is doing. This is an increase over the then-record 70% disapproval rating Bush received in an Oct. 3-5 poll.
At 25%, President Bush's approval rating ties the lowest of his administration, and is just 3 points above the all-time low of 22% for Harry Truman, recorded in 1952.
Survey Methods
Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,269 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Oct. 10-12, 2008. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.
Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones (for respondents with a land-line telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents who are cell-phone only).
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
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