Support for Bush and war slumps
Gary Younge in New York
Saturday September 13, 2003
The Guardian
President George Bush's approval ratings have slumped to a lower point
than they were in the week of the terrorist attacks two years ago,
according to the latest Gallup poll.
With the economy haemorrhaging jobs and little sign of victory in
Iraq, the CNN/USA Today poll gave Mr Bush an overall approval rating
of 52%, compared with 55% in an ABC/Washington Post poll taken between
September 6 and 9 2001.
His continuing downward trend in the polls suggests that the weekend's
televised address to the nation, in which he asked for $87bn for the
war in Iraq, did nothing to reassure the electorate and may even have
made things worse.
This summer has seen a steep decline in the president's standing from
a high of 71% approval in April, suggesting that he would face an
extremely close battle if there were an election today. Asked whether
they would vote for Bush or an unnamed Democrat, the president has
only a four-point lead; in August it was 12.
Support for and opposition to Bush is deeply partisan, reflecting
growing entrenchment among Democrats and Republicans. But of
particular concern for the Bush teams, according to other polls, is
the low number of independent voters (33%) who approve of the overall
job he is doing.
"Taking a fall was inevitable, but he is increasingly vulnerable now,"
Jaime Regalado, a political scientist at California State University,
told USA Today. "The war in Iraq is showing escalating costs in money
and human life and the American public is showing escalating doubts."
In the latest poll 58% say "the situation in Iraq was worth going to
war over", down from 63% in August. More than half think things are
going moderately or very badly in Iraq, while 59% believe the
administration does not have a clear plan for handling the situation
there.
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