Posted on 04/08/2005 7:16:10 AM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON - President Bush's standing with the public is slumping just three months into his final term, but Americans have an even lower regard for the job being done by Congress. Bush's job approval is at 44 percent, with 54 percent disapproving. Only 37 percent have a favorable opinion of the work being done by the Republican-controlled Congress, according to an AP-Ipsos poll.
Bush's job approval was at 49 percent in January, while Congress was at 41 percent.
"This is a pretty sour spring," said Karlyn Bowman, a public opinion analyst at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. "People are not very impressed by what Bush is doing or by what Congress is doing — Democrats or Republicans."
Record high gasoline prices, nervousness about the future of Social Security, the ongoing Iraq war and the Terri Schiavo case are all contributing, political analysts said.
Republicans in Congress and the president moved quickly during the Easter recess to approve legislation intended to prolong the life of Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman who died after her feeding tube was disconnected.
The number supporting Bush's handling of some domestic issues dipped between March and April, to 42 percent for the economy and 38 percent for issues like education and health care, according to the poll conducted for The Associated Press by Ipsos-Public Affairs.
Support for the president's approach to his top domestic priority, Social Security, remained at 36 percent, while 58 percent oppose it.
Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio said Bush faces an uphill battle with his plan to allow younger workers to invest some of their Social Security taxes in personal investment accounts.
"With the Social Security plan itself, they're fundamentally trying to sell a plan that isn't popular," Fabrizio said. "They're flying into the wind."
Young adults are supposed to benefit the most from Bush's Social Security proposal, but a majority of that group, 54 percent, opposes the president on that issue.
Ed Rollins, a Republican who was a top political adviser to President Reagan, said if Bush continues to push relentlessly for his Social Security plan he's taking a chance.
"If he wants to make Social Security his legacy," Rollins said, he faces the risk that "there will be no legacy."
Denise Brown, a 41-year-old Republican from Prattville, Ala., is among those Bush has yet to convince.
"I'm not sold on it," she said. "Maybe there haven't been any alternatives put out there. Something definitely needs to be done, but there are probably other ways to do it that may be better."
While Democrats firmly disapprove of Bush's job performance and independents lean toward disapproval, Republicans remain firmly behind him.
"I don't know that the exit strategy in Iraq is completely thought out. And I don't know that all the Social Security options have been explored," said Scott Lindsey, a Republican who lives around Memphis, Tenn. "But I think President Bush is doing a good job."
The president's poll standing has been in the mid-40s to low-50s for the past two years, said Matthew Dowd, who was a strategist and pollster for Bush in the 2004 presidential campaign.
"The president being at the lower end of his normal range has more to do with the price of gasoline and thus, economic confidence, than anything else," Dowd said.
During the first three months of the year, Congress has spent much of its time discussing the budget and Social Security and passing legislation toughening laws on bankruptcy. Congress interrupted its Easter break last month to pass the legislation on Schiavo.
Some think Congress has its priorities confused.
"I don't think Congress should have gotten involved in the Schiavo case," said Tiavia Fields, a nurse from Compton, Calif., who is a Democrat. "That was in Florida and it had nothing to do with us. Isn't that a state matter? They should have just let that poor woman's husband handle it."
Democrats are pondering how best to tap into public dissatisfaction with Bush and the GOP-led Congress.
"I think the Democrats have to be clearer about offering alternatives, not just the critique," said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. "People already know what the problems are, they want to know the solutions."
The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,001 adults was taken April 4-6 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Damn. I guess he better resign and let Cheney take over. LOL.
Why are they polling Bush so much? Its not like he's running again in 2008. I guess they figure if Bush's poll numbers are lousy that means the Dems will win in 2008. Idiot Pollsters and their pipe dreams!
I gotta admit, I lost alot of fire for our president after the way the Schaivo affair. : (
I personally do not blame Bush or Jeb for Shiavo. I blame our uselss Congress and our evil Judges!
The political analysts are full of crap. It is none of the above. Bush's ratings began to drop when he proposed a Mexican worker program, which most people decided meant amnesty. His support for open borders has caused many of his supporters to cringe.
As for Congress, the Republicans need to show the country they can overcome the lies and treqachery of the Democrats, which they haven't been able to do, as of now. The Republicans, for some reason, are always afraid to fight for what they know to be right. That is why their approval numbers are down.
I am particularly upset over the Federal Governments ignorance on Homeland security and Open Border policy. Illegal alien situation needs to be dealt with.
And Amnesty is NOT the answer.
If Congress doesn't get off their butt, and vote on President Bush's judges and Social Security legislation, there will be more and more "slumping" in their approval.
NOW: Judges
NOW: Personal Retirement Accounts
I would also like to see something done about this culture of death spreading throughout our 'old folks homes' ... thoughtful legislation is in order there, too, but I think that may be better left to the states (a bit ambivalent about that).
I hate to say this but you two are absolutely right and if the Repubicans don't get on the ball the Democrats will use it to their advantage. Hillary is already heading in that direction.
You bet the two of us are right. There are serious issues to be dealt with here.
... Record high gasoline prices, nervousness about the future of Social Security, the ongoing Iraq war and the Terri Schiavo case are all contributing, political analysts said...
Is there an invisible elephant in the room?
What about borders, borders, borders?
We're fighting in Iraq, but we're at war with Mexico.
To insure a political victory in the midterms, the Republicans must satisfy their base.
They can only do this by clamping down on illegal immigrants, forcing Mexico to stop the exodus of their citizens into the U.S., using the "nuclear option" to get conservatives appointed to the Court, and stop pandering to the liberal establishment. With the Senate leadership they currently have, this will be a difficult task. Too many Senate Republicans are philosphical liberals, while the majority of House Republicans are true to Republican principles. I really wish we had some of the dogmatic ideologues the Democrats enjoy on our side instead of the caspar milquetoast Frists and McCains.
Bush's behavior on the border issue is most puzzling and I can't imagine why he is acting the way has towards Fox. Nor can I understand why he and the Republicans in Congress blinked when the Courts stared back over the Schiavo issue. That poor woman should never have been starved and dehydrated to death. Her death through judicial decree opens the floodgate to euthanisia for the mentally impaired and will give the Courts an incentive to behave in an even more outrageous and superior fashion in the future.
As soon as the federal courts ignored the law passed by congress, federal troops should have been used to take posession of her and spare her life until the kind of thorough medical inquiry this case merited.
... Record high gasoline prices, nervousness about the future of Social Security, the ongoing Iraq war and the Terri Schiavo case are all contributing, political analysts said...
Is there an invisible elephant in the room?
What about borders, borders, borders?
We're fighting in Iraq, but we're at war with Mexico.
If the price of gas at the pump was 99 cents his approval rating would be 60%!!
>>I personally do not blame Bush or Jeb for Shiavo
Notice how the Gov. of Illinois issued an emergency order which orders pharmacies to fill prescriptions "no matter what, no questions asked"?
Notice how Jeb did no such thing for Terri?
Florida is a state which has a STRONG Govenor. He could have declared a state of emergency to to a Constitutional crisis brought on by Greer. In such a State, Greer's orders could not be implemented.
Jeb pulled a pontius pilate, and publicly lied that he didn't have any "special" power to do anything else. The bottom line, is not that he didn't have power or authority, it's that he refused to use it.
How come the dems are willing to exercise their Executive power, and Republicans aren't?
It's obvious that Republicans aren't the solution to the problem with the Judiciary.
Remember, the out of control judges are half the problem, the other half comes from the executive/legislative branches who relinquish their power to the courts...
AP-Ipsos Poll always had Bush in the mid-40's even during the campaign. This is nothing new.
It's not the people's lack of support for republican ideals, it's the republican's lack of support for republican ideals.
Moreover, the article states that Republican support of the President remains solid. In the recent Presidential election, there were 5 million more people who voted Republican than democrat. I don't think Bush has much to worry about here.
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