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Bush Ratings on Iraq Reach New Low, but Economy Ratings Up

Bush Ratings on Iraq Reach New Low, but Economy Ratings Up

Overall approval rating at 37%

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The start of the New Year has brought little change in George W. Bush's overall job approval rating, perhaps because increasingly critical views of his handling of Iraq are offsetting the growing credit he is getting on the economy. A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds Bush's approval rating on the Iraq issue the worst of his presidency, with only one in four Americans approving. At the same time, Bush's approval rating on the economy is the best it has been in about two years. Bush's approval ratings on foreign affairs and terrorism are at or near the low points of his presidency.

Thirty-seven percent of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing as president, according to the Jan. 5-7, 2007 poll, suggesting little change. When last asked in December, 35% approved of Bush -- his approval rating has averaged 37% since October. Bush was last above 40% approval in September, and has not been above 50% since March 2005.

Iraq is likely the biggest drag on Bush's approval rating. Just 26% of Americans approve of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq, with 72% disapproving -- the worst evaluation of Bush on this issue during his presidency. Bush had a 30% approval rating on Iraq in October, and 36% in August. All of Bush's Iraq approval ratings have been below 40% since September 2005, with the current rating the first to dip below 30%.

Americans are also highly critical of Bush's handling of foreign affairs more generally, with only 34% approving. That is within a percentage point of his administration low of 33% foreign affairs approval rating from April 2006.

Bush is getting better marks from the public for his handling of the economy. Forty-five percent of Americans approve of Bush on the economy, with 51% disapproving. Bush's economic approval rating had hovered near the 40% line throughout much of 2005 and 2006. The last time he had a higher economic approval rating than the current 45% was nearly two years ago, in February 2005, when 48% approved.

Terrorism has always been Bush's greatest perceived strength among the issues. In fact, whenever Gallup has asked about Bush's handling of terrorism, it has always been his best issue by a significant margin over any other issue.

But in the latest poll, his approval rating on terrorism (44%) is roughly the same as his 45% rating on the economy. The 44% terrorism approval rating is one of the worst of his presidency -- equaling if not surpassing his previous low mark on the issue, a 45% rating in April 2006.

Partisan Differences

Fewer than 1 in 10 Democrats approve of the job Bush is doing overall, continuing a trend evident in each of the last seven Gallup Polls. Bush still gets a robust 79% approval rating from Republicans, though he has enjoyed the support of upwards of 90% of Republicans throughout much of his term. Thirty-one percent of independents say they approve of the job Bush is doing.

Of the four issues, Iraq is easily the worst for Bush among all partisan groups. Only 3% of Democrats in the current poll approve of Bush's handling of Iraq, as do 21% of independents and 61% of Republicans. Only as many as 19% of Democrats and 40% of independents approve of Bush on any of the four issues.

 

 

All Americans

Democrats

Independents

Republicans

 

%

%

%

%

Overall approval

37

7

31

79

         

Economy

45

19

40

82

Terrorism

44

17

38

86

Foreign Affairs

34

8

29

73

Iraq

26

3

21

61

The drop in evaluations of Bush on Iraq has come among all groups. In August, when Bush's approval rating on Iraq was 36%, 73% of Republicans, 27% of independents, and 10% of Democrats approved of Bush on this issue.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,004 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Jan. 5-7, 2007. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. 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.


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/26083/bush-ratings-iraq-reach-new-low-economy-ratings.aspx
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