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Bush poll rating hits new low
AFP
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 05 11 06
President George W. Bush has hit a new low in US public opinion, with just 31 percent of respondents approving of his job performance -- one of the lowest ratings ever for a US president, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
The poll conducted by the Times and CBS television shows the third-lowest approval rating for any president in the past 50 years, with only presidents Richard M. Nixon and Jimmy Carter viewed less favorably while they were in office, the daily reported.
The poll comes just six months ahead of US midterm elections in which Bush's Republican Party is battling to maintain control of Congress over resurgent opposition Democrats.
Just 13 percent of the 1,241 people surveyed by the Times and CBS approved of the way the president is handling rising gas prices, one of the top public concerns.
Bush also scored the lowest ratings of his presidency for his handling of foreign policy, Iraq and the US economy, while only about one-fourth of respondents said they approved of his handling of immigration issues, another new hot-button issue.
Most of the support lost by the Bush, including among his once-stalwart conservative base, seems to be over his handling of the conflict in Iraq. The percentage of respondents in the Times/CBS poll who support having gone to war fell to a new low of 39 percent, down from 47 percent in January.
About two-thirds of respondents surveyed said they had little or no confidence that Bush could successfully end the war.
Wednesday's poll numbers were in line with the 31 percent approval rating received by the president in a poll released earlier this week by USA Today and the Gallup polling organization
The USA Today/Gallup survey of 1,013 adults, which underscored the erosion of backing among Bush's core conservative supporters, showed a three percent loss of overall support for the president from one week earlier.
AFP 1014 08 GMT 05 06
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