Ari Gold
2
Bush's ratings sink amid public pessimism <!-- END HEADLINE --><!-- BEGIN STORY BODY -->By John Whitesides, Political CorrespondentThu Oct 13, 5:16 PM ET
Despite a drive by President George W. Bush to rebuild support and restore public confidence, three new opinion polls show his approval ratings sinking ever deeper in a sea of political troubles and pessimism.
Bush's approval rating dropped below 40 percent for the first time in polls by the Pew Research Center and NBC News/Wall Street Journal, and fewer than 30 percent of Americans believed the country was on the right track amid violence in Iraq, high gas prices and growing budget deficits.
A new Fox News poll also showed Bush's approval rating dropping to its lowest level in that survey, falling to 40 percent from 45 percent since late September.
"Bush's numbers are going from bad to worse, and there is no silver lining," said Pew pollster Andrew Kohut. "People just see more and more bad news everywhere and they don't see a way out."
The sinking poll numbers, which have threatened key elements of Bush's second-term agenda and made Republicans increasingly nervous about next year's midterm elections, followed weeks of renewed activity designed to show Bush in command.
The president has made eight trips to the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast since early September, delivered major speeches on fighting terrorism and rebuilding New Orleans and gave a national television interview.
None of it eased public pessimism on a range of issues, including the economy and the war in Iraq, or turned around Bush's already low approval ratings, pollsters said.
The NBC poll, released on Wednesday, found 69 percent thought the worst was ahead on gas prices and only 28 percent thought the country was headed in the right direction.
The Pew poll, released on Thursday, found 29 percent satisfied with the country's direction. For the first time, a majority of Americans thought the Iraq war was not going well and solid majorities said Bush had made the economy and budget deficit worse.
"What people don't like is uncertainty," said independent pollster Dick Bennett of American Research Group. "What they really don't like is a president who doesn't acknowledge uncertainty and deal with it. Americans can take bad news, but they want a way out of it and they don't see that from Bush."
OPPORTUNITY FOR DEMOCRATS?
Bush's weakened political stance has forced him to abandon at least temporarily his push for a Social Security overhaul and threatens efforts to extend his tax cuts.
The poll results also come as Bush faces a conservative revolt over his nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Republicans deal with the indictment of House leader Tom DeLay for money laundering as well as a probe of Senate Republican leader Bill Frist's stock deals.
Democrats point to the spreading scandals, including White House political adviser Karl Rove's appearances before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity, as evidence Republicans have been corrupted by power.
The NBC poll found Americans preferred Democratic control of the U.S. Congress to Republican leadership by 48 percent to 39 percent, helping fuel rising Democratic hopes for 2006. Democrats need to gain 15 House seats and six Senate seats to regain control of the two chambers.
Nearly all polls, including the NBC and Pew surveys, found Bush's approval ratings among his Republican base holding strong at more than 80 percent.
"This is an opportunity for Democrats, but we haven't seen any evidence yet that they are going to make big gains," said Karlyn Bowman, a poll analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
With 13 months to go until the November 2006 congressional elections, Republican strategists say there is plenty of time to recover. Bush's approval rating is still better than the lowest rating for any president in the past 40 years.
"Not only is it not unusual for a president to have an approval rating at 38 percent, it's almost predictable," Republican consultant Whit Ayres said. "Every president has rough patches, it says nothing about the ultimate historical judgment."
He said an improvement in gas prices, a dip in violence in Iraq or other good news for Bush could start to brighten his political picture quickly. "There is no question the country is in a funk and some kind of event will have to turn it around," he said.
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Despite a drive by President George W. Bush to rebuild support and restore public confidence, three new opinion polls show his approval ratings sinking ever deeper in a sea of political troubles and pessimism.
Bush's approval rating dropped below 40 percent for the first time in polls by the Pew Research Center and NBC News/Wall Street Journal, and fewer than 30 percent of Americans believed the country was on the right track amid violence in Iraq, high gas prices and growing budget deficits.
A new Fox News poll also showed Bush's approval rating dropping to its lowest level in that survey, falling to 40 percent from 45 percent since late September.
"Bush's numbers are going from bad to worse, and there is no silver lining," said Pew pollster Andrew Kohut. "People just see more and more bad news everywhere and they don't see a way out."
The sinking poll numbers, which have threatened key elements of Bush's second-term agenda and made Republicans increasingly nervous about next year's midterm elections, followed weeks of renewed activity designed to show Bush in command.
The president has made eight trips to the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast since early September, delivered major speeches on fighting terrorism and rebuilding New Orleans and gave a national television interview.
None of it eased public pessimism on a range of issues, including the economy and the war in Iraq, or turned around Bush's already low approval ratings, pollsters said.
The NBC poll, released on Wednesday, found 69 percent thought the worst was ahead on gas prices and only 28 percent thought the country was headed in the right direction.
The Pew poll, released on Thursday, found 29 percent satisfied with the country's direction. For the first time, a majority of Americans thought the Iraq war was not going well and solid majorities said Bush had made the economy and budget deficit worse.
"What people don't like is uncertainty," said independent pollster Dick Bennett of American Research Group. "What they really don't like is a president who doesn't acknowledge uncertainty and deal with it. Americans can take bad news, but they want a way out of it and they don't see that from Bush."
OPPORTUNITY FOR DEMOCRATS?
Bush's weakened political stance has forced him to abandon at least temporarily his push for a Social Security overhaul and threatens efforts to extend his tax cuts.
The poll results also come as Bush faces a conservative revolt over his nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Republicans deal with the indictment of House leader Tom DeLay for money laundering as well as a probe of Senate Republican leader Bill Frist's stock deals.
Democrats point to the spreading scandals, including White House political adviser Karl Rove's appearances before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity, as evidence Republicans have been corrupted by power.
The NBC poll found Americans preferred Democratic control of the U.S. Congress to Republican leadership by 48 percent to 39 percent, helping fuel rising Democratic hopes for 2006. Democrats need to gain 15 House seats and six Senate seats to regain control of the two chambers.
Nearly all polls, including the NBC and Pew surveys, found Bush's approval ratings among his Republican base holding strong at more than 80 percent.
"This is an opportunity for Democrats, but we haven't seen any evidence yet that they are going to make big gains," said Karlyn Bowman, a poll analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
With 13 months to go until the November 2006 congressional elections, Republican strategists say there is plenty of time to recover. Bush's approval rating is still better than the lowest rating for any president in the past 40 years.
"Not only is it not unusual for a president to have an approval rating at 38 percent, it's almost predictable," Republican consultant Whit Ayres said. "Every president has rough patches, it says nothing about the ultimate historical judgment."
He said an improvement in gas prices, a dip in violence in Iraq or other good news for Bush could start to brighten his political picture quickly. "There is no question the country is in a funk and some kind of event will have to turn it around," he said.
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