Posted on 09/19/2007 10:22:13 AM PDT by Kaslin
President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress registered record-low approval ratings in a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday, and a new monthly index measuring the mood of Americans dipped slightly on deepening worries about the economy.
Only 29 percent of Americans gave Bush a positive grade for his job performance, below his worst Zogby poll mark of 30 percent in March. A paltry 11 percent rated Congress positively, beating the previous low of 14 percent in July.
The Reuters/Zogby Index, a new measure of the mood of the country, dropped from 100 to 98.8 in the last month on worries about the economy and fears of a recession, pollster John Zogby said.
"Since the last time we polled we have had the mortgage crisis, and we are hearing the recession word a whole lot more than we've heard it in the past," Zogby said.
"There are things that happened in the September polling that drove the number down a bit, and they are mostly economic worries," he added.
The Index, which debuts this month, combines responses to 10 questions on Americans' views about their leaders, the direction of their country and their personal situations. Polling for the Index began in July, and that month's results provide the benchmark score of 100.
A score above 100 indicates the country's mood has improved since July. A score below 100, like the one recorded in September, shows the nation's mood getting worse. The RZI, which will be released the third Wednesday of each month, had remained at 100 in August.
"The public mood is not just dark. What's darker than dark?" Zogby said. "The mood is getting ugly."
The national survey of 1,011 likely voters, taken September 13 through September 16, found barely one-quarter of Americans, or 27 percent, believe the country is headed in the right direction. Nearly 62 percent think the country is on the wrong track.
About two-thirds of Americans think the value of their homes will stay the same or drop in the next year, and about one-third expect a recession in the next year amid a housing slump and credit crunch.
The poll also found little confidence in U.S. foreign or economic policy, with 68 percent of Americans rating economic policy as just fair or poor and 73 percent calling foreign policy either fair or poor.
Most of the polling was done after a speech by Bush and testimony to Congress by the top commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, indicating the United States would make some reductions but planned to keep high troop levels in Iraq for the foreseeable future.
Zogby said continuing uncertainty about Iraq contributed to the bad public mood and helped push down ratings for Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress.
"I think we are seeing an anti-institution mood here," he said. "Post-Katrina, and now with Iraq and the economy getting worse, people just don't have faith that anybody is solving their problems."
In the 2008 White House race, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York led the Democratic field with 35 percent. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was second with 21 percent and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina was third with 10 percent.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden drew the support of about 3 percent each.
For Republicans, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani led the 2008 field with 26 percent, while newly minted candidate Fred Thompson, a former senator and Hollywood actor, was second with 24 percent.
Arizona Sen. John McCain was third at 13 percent and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was fourth with 7 percent.
In both parties, about 20 percent of likely voters said they had not made up their minds, leaving plenty of room for the races to shift.
The national telephone survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Zogby is definitely biased but a broken clock is right twice a day (to use a cliché). The fact that Bush's ratings are consistently over the 30 pct. mark and significantly higher than Congress' ratings (which continue to fall) provide evidence that American voters may be (and likely are) losing faith in Congress.
The federal government's primary responsibilities are clearly enumerated in the Constitution, divided by branch. The role of the federal government is to provide for a common defense against enemies both foreign and domestic and to resolve disputes between amongst States and citizens of other States.
The government clearly can not solve people's problems. Continuing to pretend that it can...only furthers the delusion.
I would say you are right. Now if the MSM was truthful in its reporting and unbiased, GW would be about even higher with the democrat controlled Congress not registering enough to get 1%.
Even this leftwing Arab is showing the trend is towards Fred. Good stuff.
Go Fred go!
I believe you’re right and pray it happens.
You’re right.
Blame the parents, MSM, the entertainment industry and the public schools. Americans have become nothing but Pseudo Eurotrash.
A few more Harry Reid clips and they can push it to single digits!!!
I’m amazed it’s that high. Flawed polling, no doubt
[Best known as an interpreter of the political scene, Zogby had a brief stint as an aspiring politician himself in 1981, when he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Utica, New York. He describes himself as a liberal Democrat [citation needed].
Since May 2005 he has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.
Zogby is also scheduled to host a radio show on a new progressive talk radio network created by Nova M Radio Inc. in Phoenix. Zogby will co-host a weekly one-hour show, “The Pulse of the Nation,” where he polls listeners on hot-button issues from politics and pop culture, then reveals results of his own polling. The network debuts Oct. 30, 2006. It is an effort by Anita Drobny and Sheldon Drobny, co-founders of the Air America Radio Network.]
“This is really odd.”
I don’t know. I’m thinking there are the Republican voters PLUS the far-left wingnuts who blame the dems for “supporting” the war/not calling for Bush’s impeachment/not de-funding the war.
And then you have the rest who don’t give a crap.
I’d like to think that the low opinion of congress might be reflected in the next election, but unfortunately people can simultaneously have a very low opinion of congress yet vote to support their own senator or congressman.
For instance, take Murtha. The man is a scummy crook, and they probably his constituents know it, but he’s THEIR scummy crook. He brings back a lot of pork. Little Tommy Daschle finally got voted out, but it took almost a miracle to do it, because he was such a great pork dispenser.
Pushing amnesty down our throats and now trying to sneak the devastating Dream Act will continue to hurt them.
Looks like my prediction (in another forum) is being realized that Peloser’s/Reid’s Congress approval rating is dropping or has already dropped from his IQ to her shoe size, judging by the estimated size of her mouth in photographs.
Speak for yourself, and your family...not mine.
Big round of applause for General Pelosi!
Maybe if she kisses up to Assad in Syria again she can produce a ZERO rating....(chuckle)
Six for 06 turned out to be ‘One and Done’.
Way to go Nancypants!
Looks like the attack on a decorated General went over like a lead balloon.
Pray for W and Our Troops
http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=4176
“... All in all, Zogby’s habit of confusing his personal opinion with data-driven conclusions, his admitted practice of manipulating the respondent pool and his demographic weights, by standards not accepted anywhere else, along with mixing Internet polls with telephone interview results, forces me to reject his polls as unacceptable; they simply cannot be verified, and I strongly warn the reader that there is no established benchmark for the Zogby reports, even using previous Zogby polls, because he has changed his practices from his own history.”
I think the Beltway is ran by homosexual clubs and blackmail.
You’re spot on. We have become very cynical when it comes to government.
Of course the politicians have given us a lot to be cynical about.
If it's the president's fault, why does congress have the 11% and the president the 38%?
Hairy doesn't know why, but whatever the reason, it still must be the president's fault.
You need to read the post I’m replying to before you get huffy.
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