Politics > Politics-USA > Bush described as incompetent, out of touch, idiot, and liar by mostAmericans now
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Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"PagCal" |
| Date: |
16 Mar 2006 10:32:22 PM |
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Bush described as incompetent, out of touch, idiot, and liar by mostAmericans now |
Bush battered by US pessimism, leadership doubts
By John Whitesides, Political CorrespondentThu Mar 16, 12:32 PM ET
Deep doubts about the Iraq war and pessimism about America's future have
shattered public confidence in President George W. Bush and helped drive
his approval ratings to their lowest level ever, pollsters say.
As Bush launched a series of speeches to drum up support for the war, a
new round of opinion polls found growing skepticism about Iraq and
distrust of Bush. His image declined sharply, with one poll finding
"incompetent" to be the most frequent description of his leadership.
Bush's approval rating dipped as low as 33 percent in one recent poll
after a string of bad news for the White House, including uproars over a
now-dead Arab port deal, a secret eavesdropping program, a series of
ethics scandals involving high-profile Republicans and a bungled
response to Hurricane Katrina.
The political storm has left Bush's second-term legislative agenda in
tatters, threatened Republican control of the U.S. Congress in
November's elections and shredded his personal image as an effective leader.
"His strong points as a president were being seen as personally
credible, as a strong leader. That has all but disappeared," said Andrew
Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, whose latest independent
poll found a dramatic decline in Bush's credibility.
A majority of Americans, 56 percent, believe Bush is "out of touch," the
poll found. When asked for a one-word description of Bush, the most
frequent response was "incompetent," followed by "good," "idiot" and
"liar." In February 2005, the most frequent reply was "honest."
"The transformation from being seen as honest to being seen as
incompetent is an extraordinary indicator of how far he has fallen,"
Kohut said.
Bush's slump is deep enough to put Republican majorities in the Senate
and House of Representatives at risk, pollsters said. Democrats must
gain 15 House seats and six Senate seats to regain power in each chamber.
"It's not the environment that we want to be running in," Republican
pollster David Winston said. "Republicans can still hold the House and
the Senate, but it's becoming increasingly more complicated."
In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 61 percent said the Iraq war would be a
very important or the most important issue in deciding their vote for
Congress. As the third anniversary of the invasion approaches, they
preferred Democrats over Republicans in handling Iraq by 48 to 40 percent.
WAR 'A BIG ISSUE'
"I think it is a big issue," House Republican leader John Boehner of
Ohio said. "When the country is at war there is a certain unsettling
that occurs with people around the country, as you might expect."
Boehner said the anxiety over Iraq was coloring the public's view on
other issues like the economy, which he said is performing well.
"People don't look at the president's handling of the economy very well,
and frankly I think it is a result of this anxiety over the fact that we
are at war," he said.
A recent CBS poll found 66 percent of the public believed the country
was headed down the wrong track, while a Harris Interactive poll put the
number at 60 percent.
Views on Iraq and the war on terrorism were equally pessimistic, with 67
percent of respondents in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll saying Bush did
not have a clear plan for handling Iraq.
Independent pollster ***** Bennett of American Research Group said Bush's
failure to acknowledge public anxieties added to his troubles.
"The biggest problem the White House faces is reconnecting with people.
People simply aren't buying it anymore," Bennett said. "People can see
for themselves that things actually are not fine."
Bush's ratings are still above historical lows recorded since Gallup
started presidential polling after World War Two.
The approval ratings for Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and
the first George Bush, the current president's father, all dropped into
the 20s.
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