Monday, September 18, 2006
Bush Approval Rating Up Sharply
President George W. Bush's approval rating has risen to 44 percent – his highest rating in a year – while only 51 percent now say they "disapprove” of his job performance, a new USA Today/Gallup Poll reveals.
Bush’s approval rating was as low as 31 percent in May and 37 percent as recently as Aug. 7-10.
The rating has risen largely on the strength of increased support from Republicans — 86 percent said they approve of his performance, compared with 70 percent in May.
The upswing in approval comes amid falling gas prices and a two-week drive by the president to highlight his administration's efforts to fight terrorism.
The new findings reflect "a consistent, persistent, tenacious effort to make . . . the Republican Party's ability to deal with terrorism the No. 1 issue in the campaign," political scientist Richard Eichenberg of Tufts University told USA Today.
In the new poll, slightly more than a quarter of respondents said Iraq is their top concern going into this fall’s elections; 19 percent cited terrorism and 18 percent those economic conditions.
But for the first time since December 2005, a majority of people did not say the war in Iraq was a mistake; the split was 49 percent to 49 percent.
Other results of the poll reported in USA Today:
A 55 percent to 42 percent majority said they supported Bush’s terrorist surveillance program, the policy of wiretapping phone conversations between U.S. citizens here and suspected terrorists abroad without obtaining a court order.
Three-quarters said Iraq is in the midst of a civil war.
55 percent said the U.S. goal in Iraq and the Middle East should be stable governments, while 33 percent agreed with the president that the goal should be democratic governments.
President George W. Bush's approval rating has risen to 44 percent – his highest rating in a year – while only 51 percent now say they "disapprove” of his job performance, a new USA Today/Gallup Poll reveals.
Bush’s approval rating was as low as 31 percent in May and 37 percent as recently as Aug. 7-10.
The rating has risen largely on the strength of increased support from Republicans — 86 percent said they approve of his performance, compared with 70 percent in May.
The upswing in approval comes amid falling gas prices and a two-week drive by the president to highlight his administration's efforts to fight terrorism.
The new findings reflect "a consistent, persistent, tenacious effort to make . . . the Republican Party's ability to deal with terrorism the No. 1 issue in the campaign," political scientist Richard Eichenberg of Tufts University told USA Today.
In the new poll, slightly more than a quarter of respondents said Iraq is their top concern going into this fall’s elections; 19 percent cited terrorism and 18 percent those economic conditions.
But for the first time since December 2005, a majority of people did not say the war in Iraq was a mistake; the split was 49 percent to 49 percent.
Other results of the poll reported in USA Today:
A 55 percent to 42 percent majority said they supported Bush’s terrorist surveillance program, the policy of wiretapping phone conversations between U.S. citizens here and suspected terrorists abroad without obtaining a court order.
Three-quarters said Iraq is in the midst of a civil war.
55 percent said the U.S. goal in Iraq and the Middle East should be stable governments, while 33 percent agreed with the president that the goal should be democratic governments.
