More polls, more bad news

August 5, 2005

If Bush was hoping that last week’s flurry of legislative activity would boost his public standing a bit, he’s sorely disappointed today.

Americans’ approval of President Bush’s handling of Iraq is at its lowest level yet, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that also found fewer than half now think he’s honest.

A solid majority still see Bush as a strong and likable leader, though the president’s confidence is seen as arrogance by a growing number.

Approval of Bush’s handling of Iraq, which had been hovering in the low- to mid-40s most of the year, dipped to 38 percent. Midwesterners and young women and men with a high school education or less were most likely to abandon Bush on his handling of Iraq in the last six months.

Bush’s overall job approval was at 42%, with 55% disapproving. That is, you guessed it, the worst support of Bush’s presidency in any AP/Ipsos poll. Also noteworthy was the decline in the public’s trust — 48% said Bush is honest, 50% said he’s not. It was the first time Bush’s honesty rating has dropped below 50% in an AP/Ipsos poll.

CBS News, meanwhile, found some interesting results this week with questions on the Plame scandal.

When asked about the significance of the controversy to the nation, a combined 80% of the public said the scandal is important, with 41% of respondents saying it’s of “great importance.” So much for the GOP talking point that no one cares about this story outside the DC Beltway.

And following up on the president’s credibility problem, when people were asked if Bush administration officials have been honest in their statements about the controversy, only 12% of respondents said the Bush gang is “telling the entire truth,” while 55% said they’re “hiding something” and 22% said they are “mostly lying.”

Slowly but surely, the public seems to be coming around. They’re nine months too late, but maybe it’ll help with midterms.

We still need things to get a good bit worse before we can hope that his numbers start to drag down the whole GOP. But I’ve got faith in you, George: You’re not just another lying screwup; you’re a truly special lying screwup, with nearly limitless potential.

  • Matt Davis wrote: “you’re a truly special lying screwup, with nearly limitless potential”

    Do you suppose that Bush has some demotivational posters from http://www.despair.com on his wall? Maybe those are what’s motivating him to do his worst! 🙂

  • Matt, I echo your sentiments…In the immortal words of Chevy Chase in Caddyshack, “don’t underestimate yourself Judge, you’re a tremendous slouch.”, or should that be “misunderestimate”?

  • I find it extraordinary that 80% of the public
    said the Plame case is somewhat or more
    important.

    I tend to doubt that 80% even know what it
    is. But whatever, it’s certainly encouraging,
    surprisingly so. There is clearly some
    significant waking up going on this country,
    at long last.

    I put this in my “Huh?” department:

    Midwesterners and young women and men with a high school education or less were most likely to abandon Bush on his handling of Iraq in the last six months.

    Is that because they had a much higher approval
    rating to begin with? Must be, I guess.

  • This line should come as no surprise:

    “Midwesterners and young women and men with a high school education or less were most likely to abandon Bush on his handling of Iraq in the last six months.”

    And which demographic contains the largest number of people most likely to have signed up to serve in the military and are currently getting their butts shot off in Iraq while their families grieve back home?

    You guessed it: Midwesterners and young people with a high school education or less.

    Nothing wakes people up more than having their loved ones ( or themselves ) sent off to die in foreign lands over and over and over again for no visible benefit whatsoever. We can only bemoan the fact that it’s taken way to long for the blinders to finally start dropping off, but the good news is they finally are.

  • As much as I applaud the continued worsening of Bush’s numbers, is there any indication that Dems are being percieved more postively? That’s the other part of the equation that needs to move if we are to hope for a Dem 1994-style revolution in the 2006 midterms.

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