Poll: Dim View Of Bush, GOP NEW YORK, May 9, 2006(CBS) President Bush and the Republican Congress show nearly record low ratings while Democrats are viewed much more favorably in their performance on the issues that matter most to Americans, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll. Only 31% of those polled approve of Mr. Bush's job performance and 68% believe the United States is worse off today than it was before Bush became president. Personal evaluations of Mr. Bush are the lowest they've ever been during his presidency. On the public's confidence in Bush's ability to handle a crisis, 51% had been the previous low in September 2005. That figure is now at 50%. The President's handling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis is tied to that decrease. There is also concern that Mr. Bush is spending too much time on foreign policy issues: 55% think so. Also, on the issues that are most important to Americans, Iraq and gas prices, Bush's ratings have dropped. On handling the issue of rising gas prices, Bush's performance rating dropped four percentage points from what it was a month ago (from 17% to 13%). With the Iraq war, Bush's approval rating dropped one percentage point (from 30% to 29%) since last month. Similarly, only 30% of poll respondents said they have some degree of confidence Bush will be able to end the war successfully. The poll also reveals that 56% of those polled said that United States should have stayed out of Iraq; this number is the highest it's been since the start of the war. The only area where Bush's approval rating is not at an all-time low is fighting terror: approval is at 46%. Congressional Republicans get an eviscerating review in this poll. The GOP gets a favorability rating of 37%, exactly 20 percentage points lower than where it was in 1994. Inversely, Democrats in Congress had a favorability rating increase of 11 percentage points over what it was in 1994. On the issues of Iraq and gas prices, the poll shows that the public believes Democrats are doing a better job. For instance, on Iraq, 48% said the Democratic Party is better while only 30% thought the Republican Party is. On keeping gas prices low, the disparity is even more pronounced: 57% say the Democrats perform better, while only 11% say the Republicans do. Democrats also surpass Republicans in their work on issues such as prescription drug cots, improving health care and immigration, among others. However, Republicans get a better assessment than Democrats in dealing with terrorism: 40% prefer the GOP's handling of the issue while 35% prefer the Democratic Party's. The overall approval of Congress' performance has diminished vastly since 2001; only 23% approve now while 67% did in 2001. This figure reflects frustration over Congress' ability to challenge the President since 67% think Congress does not question his policies enough. Also, 39% say that Congress would be in better condition today if Democrats were in charge, an increase from last month. Heading into the 2006 elections, Democrats look to have quite an advantage. For instance, if the elections were held today, 44% of registered voters said they would support the Democratic candidate in their congressional districts, while only 33% would support the GOP candidate. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/09/opinion/polls/printable1604495.shtml
May 9, 2006 Bush's Public Approval at New Low Point By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MEGAN THEE Americans have a bleaker view of the country's direction than at any time in more than two decades, and sharp disapproval of President Bush's handling of gasoline prices has combined with intensified unhappiness about Iraq to create a grim political environment for the White House and Congressional Republicans, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. Mr. Bush's approval rating for his management of foreign policy, Iraq and the economy have fallen to the lowest levels of his presidency. He drew poor marks on the specific issues that have been at the top of the national agenda in recent months â in particular, immigration and gas prices â underscoring the difficulty the administration faces in reversing its political fortunes. Just 13 percent approved of Mr. Bush's handling of rising gas prices. Only one-quarter said they approved of his handling of immigration, as Congressional Republicans struggle to come up with a compromise to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants into the country. The poll showed a continued decline in support for the war, the issue that has most eaten into Mr. Bush's public support. The percentage of respondents who said going to war in Iraq was the correct decision slipped to a new low of 39 percent, down from 47 percent in January. Two-thirds said they have little or no confidence that Mr. Bush will be able to successfully end the war there. Mr. Bush's political strength continues to dissipate. About two-thirds of voters said that Mr. Bush does not share their priorities, up from just over half right before his reelection in 2004. About two thirds said and that the country is in worse shape than it was when he came to power six years ago. Forty-two percent of respondents say they consider Mr. Bush a strong leader, a drop of 11 points since January. Mr. Bush's overall job approval rating hit another new low, 31 percent, tying the low point of his father, George H. W. Bush, in July 1992, four months before the elder Mr. Bush lost his bid for a second term to Bill Clinton. That is the third lowest approval rating of any president in 50 years; only Richard M. Nixon and Jimmy Carter were viewed less favorably. Mr. Bush is even losing support in what has been his base: 51 percent of conservatives and 69 percent of Republicans now approve of the way Mr. Bush is handling his job. In both cases, those figures represent a substantial drop in support from four months ago. "We should have stayed out of Iraq until we knew more about it," Bernice Davis, a Republican from Missouri who said she now disapproves of Mr. Bush's performance, said in a follow-up interview today. "The economy is going to pot. Gas prices are escalating. I just voted for Bush because he's a Republican, even though I disapproved of the war. If I could go back, I would not vote for him." The Times/CBS News poll contained few if any bright notes for Mr. Bush and the Republican Party; it reflected a starkly pessimistic view of the country by Americans and, six months before the midterm election, offered a harsh assessment of the policies and performance of the president and Congress. Although the composition of Congressional districts will make it hard for the Democrats to recapture control of Capitol Hill in the fall, the poll suggested that the trend is moving in their direction. Just 23 percent said they approve of the job Congress is doing, down from 29 percent in January. That is about the same level of support for Congress as in the fall of 1994, when Republicans seized control of the House. Americans said that Democrats would do a better job dealing with Iraq, gas prices, immigration, taxes, prescription drug and civil liberties. Fifty percent said Democrats come closer than Republicans in sharing their moral values. A majority said Republican members of Congress were more likely to be financially corrupt than a Democratic member of Congress, suggesting that Democrats might be making headway in their efforts to portray Republicans as having created a "culture of corruption" in Washington. By a margin of better than two to one, Democrats were seen as having more new ideas than Republicans. And half of respondents, the highest yet, said it was better when different parties control the two branches of government, reflecting one of the major arguments being laid out by Congressional Democrats in their bid to win back the House or Senate. Americans said that Republicans would do a better job at maintaining a stronger military than Democrats. But the Republicans now have only a slight edge on fighting terrorism, an issue that has helped account for the party's political dominance the attacks of Sept. 11. The nationwide telephone poll, of 1,241 adults, was conducted from May 4 to May 8. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
***WESTERN UNION FLASH CABLE TO Z10*** *BUSH TO REMAIN PRESIDENT FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS AND EIGHT MONTHS*.......*STOP* :eek:
The only real problem here is the option is the Democrats! No matter your feeling on the president, there is absolutely no one on the other side that has a clue. The party is posturing their challengers based on whose turn it is. No real plans or ideas past needing to get more money for more government programs. The Democrats are attempting to be the party of whine, pose, posture, prosecute. I'm not interested in their business as usual politics. Meanwhile, the Republicans are not appearing to be understanding anything anywhere. Dems and Repubs? I say they're Pitiful and Pathetic. Which is which? Take your pick!
He's within 7 or 8 points of catching Nixon. These are US polls. He's probably in way worse shape than Nixon ever was in terms of ex-US view of him. http://www.pollkatz.homestead.com/files/BNCapp_12756_image001.gif I thought he might be bottoming out a week or so ago. Wrong. It's like he can't get good advice. Take Hayden - people hate the scumbag like they hate Cheney. Maureen Dowd in the NYT today says his own party told him not to do it. So why pick him? Couldn't he just dig down a layer or two in the CIA and elevate an agreeable lifer? Bad situation to be in especially for a guy that doesn't have charm or good looks like Reagan or Bill C did. Poor runt is close to becoming repulsive.
The US needs to change its form of government.... The internet has a major role to play in a much needed change... Both parties should be eliminated... The tax system has to be eliminated and replaced with a 10% flat tax or consumption tax....and the chips will fall where they may... The government should be replaced by the hiring of good strong and truly qualified people heading the departments of interest... The US public will vote via internet on how they want their taxes to be spent...not oligopolists or special interest groups or cronyism... There will be no other forms of political advertising...all will take place on the internet.... The internet creates total visibility... ................................................................................................. The number one priority of the US at this moment should be self sufficiency and well being.....Items outside the US will be lower priority... ............................................................................................. The US government system is highly flawed and quite frankly against its very own constitution... ................................................................................................ Let Bush be the last living example of a flawed US elitist regime which only belittles the very underpinnings of the US public well being... Get rid of this nonsense country club -like bullshit...or the US will be exactly like New Orleans....Full of an age gone by aristocracy who still thinks that their personal reputations of grand daddys large cotton fields still matters...blabbing away while the city rots and falls further down...no doubt a failure hinged on old thinking...
I wonder what it takes to get a presidential recall election the way they did in California when Ahnold ran for governor?
Maybe if he gets impeached and removed... Maybe I am dreaming but then dreams do come true but the probabilities are low, perhaps as low as Dumb's IQ
Until Democrats find a positive vision (any vision for that matter) that is constructive to Americaâs national interests and its citizens, no one will vote for them, despite the mediaâs attempts in vain to hype the party.