Bush Job Approval Rating Holds Steady at 32%

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll finds continued stability in President George W. Bush's job approval rating, now at 32%. Of the five leading issues facing the nation right now, Americans rate Bush highest on his handling of terrorism and lowest on foreign affairs and the situation in Iraq. Slightly more than a third of Americans approve of Bush's handling of the economy and education. Bush's ratings on all these issues are either at or near their low points.

According to the August 13-16, 2007, poll, 32% of Americans say they approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president, while 63% say they disapprove. The president's job approval rating has not shown much change since May of this year, with roughly one in three Americans approving of his performance. This includes an administration low approval rating of 29% in a July 6-8, 2007, poll. Over the course of the year, Bush's approval rating has only been as high as 38%.

Sixty-nine percent of Republicans now approve of the job Bush is doing, compared with 25% of independents and just 6% of Democrats. Democrats' ratings of the president have been quite low all year and have shown little variation over this time. The 25% approval rating among independents is typical of what it has been this year. Republicans' ratings of Bush have averaged 73% for 2007. The new poll marks only the fourth time in Bush's entire administration that his approval rating among Republicans has been below 70% -- a 68% rating in May 2006 and again in early July 2007, a 65% low in mid-July, and the current 69% rating.

The current poll also updated public ratings of Bush's handling five specific issues -- the economy, education, foreign affairs, the situation in Iraq, and terrorism. Bush scores highest on terrorism, with a 45% approval rating, and scores lowest on his handling of Iraq, with a 27% approval rating. Twenty-nine percent of Americans approve of the president's handling of foreign affairs. And, slightly more than a third of Americans approve of the way Bush is handling education (38%) and the economy (35%). All of these ratings are at or near the low for Bush to date.

Bush's job approval rating for handling foreign affairs, 29%, is now at the lowest point of his entire administration, and has dropped six percentage points since May, showing the biggest decline since that time.    

The 38% of Americans who approve of the way Bush is handling education has also reached a new low point, although Gallup's previous measure of the president's approval rating on education was more than two years ago in January 2005. In that poll, Bush's overall approval rating and education rating was 52%.

The president's rating on the economy is now four points lower than it was in May (39% to 35%). It is the lowest rating so far this year, just one point higher than the term low of 34% in April 2006.

Bush's approval rating for handling the situation in Iraq has varied little this year and now stands at 27%, just one point above his low score of 26% measured in January and February this year. The current rating is on the low end of what Gallup has measured since 2002, and his ratings on Iraq did not dip below 30% until this year.

Americans have consistently rated Bush highest on his handling of terrorism. The current 45% approval rating on terrorism has shown little change since October 2006. It is just one point above his low terrorism approval rating of 44% from January.

A majority of Republicans approve of the way Bush is handling each of the five issues, with his highest approval rating for terrorism at 81%. No more than one in five Democrats approve of Bush on any of the five issues, with his highest rated issues being education (20%) and terrorism (19%). Independents are most likely to approve of Bush's handling of terrorism (41%). All three party groups are most negative in their view of how Bush is handling foreign affairs and Iraq.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,019 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted August 13-16, 2007. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error 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.