NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2007
Poll: Bush Approval Rating At New Low
On Eve Of State Of Union, President's Approval Rating Falls To 28%, A New Low
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Bush's Popularity Hits New Low
Before Tuesday's State of the Union address, President Bush finds himself with a very low job approval rating, according to a new CBS News poll. Jim Axelrod reports.
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Bush, Pelosi In War Of Words
CBS News RAW: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Bush is rushing troops to Iraq knowing Congress will not cut funding. The White House called the statement "poisonous."
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State of the Union
Thomas Mann, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, offers his thoughts on President Bush's upcoming State of the Union address, as well as the presidential candidates for the 2008 election.
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(AP / CBS)
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Interactive
New Plan For Iraq
Key elements of the plan, excerpts from the president's speech, reaction and more.
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Who's Who
Congress Reacts To Plan
Reaction to President Bush's new Iraq stategy, which includes an increase in troops.
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Presidential Approval Ratings
A sampling of President Bush's overall job approval ratings at selected points during his term in office.
Mr. Bush’s overall approval rating has fallen to just 28 percent, a new low, while more than twice as many (64 percent) disapprove of the way he's handling his job.
Two-thirds of Americans remain opposed to the president's plan for sending more than 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq — roughly the same number as after Mr. Bush announced the plan. And 72 percent believe he should seek congressional approval for the troop increase.
However, the poll finds more Americans might back the president's plan if they were convinced it would assure U.S. success in Iraq.
SHOULD U.S. SEND 20,000 MORE TROOPS TO IRAQ?
Favor
29%Oppose
66%…if it increased U.S.’ chances for success?
Favor
53%Oppose
38%However, Americans aren't convinced the U.S. needs a troop increase to achieve its goals in Iraq. Just 26 percent think that's needed, about the same number that think those goals can be reached without sending in more troops.
Forty-one percent think the U.S. can't achieve its goals regardless of troop levels.
The president's nationally televised message to Congress may not even reach many of those whose minds he would like to change. Less than half the public says it's very likely to watch the speech — and that answer comes more from those who already support him.Read the complete CBS News poll results.
There's still more troubling news for the president: By a more than 2-to-1 margin, Americans think Mr. Bush does not share their priorities. Just 28 percent think he does, while 69 percent think he does not.
More than two-thirds of Americans also think the country has gotten off on the wrong track, while just 26 percent think it is headed in the right direction.
DOES BUSH SHARE YOUR PRIORITIES?
Yes
28%No
69%Mr. Bush's approval rating is much lower than it was one year ago, when 42 percent of Americans approved, and far lower than the ratings he received in polls prior to his previous State of the Union addresses. Those ratings have fallen steadily since a high of 82 percent in January 2002, shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
His job approval is also far below those of other modern two-term presidents at this point in their second terms.
In January 1999, for example, just after his impeachment by the House of Representatives, President Bill Clinton's job approval rating was 65 percent. In January 1987, President Ronald Reagan's was 52 percent. In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson received a 47 percent approval rating, even as debate about the Vietnam War raged.
The war in Iraq remains the most important problem facing the country, cited by 33 percent of Americans, far more than mentioned the next top issues, the economy and jobs (8 percent) and health care (7 percent).
Only one in four believes the war is going even somewhat well, while three-quarters say it's going badly — something the president himself acknowledged earlier this month and the highest number since the war began.
MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM
War in Iraq
33%Economy and jobs
8%Health care
7%Americans are split on whether Congress, now under Democratic control, should offer a non-binding resolution against the troop increase: 42 percent say yes and 42 percent say no. But more than half of Americans — including most Democrats — want Congress to cut off the money for the troop buildup, including a small number who want to cut funds for the entire war.
Mr. Bush is expected to talk mostly about domestic concerns in Tuesday's address — and that is what most Americans want to hear; just one in four wants to hear mostly about foreign policy and Iraq. Thomas Mann, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution says, "He's already invested in a national speech on the subject, which was not well received in the country or in the Congress. My guess is he will talk more about the War on Terrorism, and link Iraq to that broader initiative."
On the domestic front, Americans think the economy is in good shape, but a majority says the Social Security system needs to be fixed now.
The public is split on whether the 2001 tax cuts should be made permanent. More than half think the issue of illegal immigration is very serious, but are divided on whether Congress will actually pass immigration reform.
Americans continue to see global warming as a serious problem. Seven in 10 say it is a problem that is having a serious impact right now. A quarter disagrees.
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,168 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone January 18-21, 2007. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. An oversample of African-Americans was also conducted for this poll, for a total of 221 interviews among this group. The results were then weighted in proportion to the racial composition of the adult population in the U.S. Census. The margin of error for African-Americans is plus or minus seven points.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 359 CommentsAt the very least, he's taught some people that picking our President is very important - you can't just say they're all the same, picking the one that seems the most approachable, the most like a buddy or whatever has a real serious cost, if that leads you to the wrong guy.
And become REAL Americans again, not blame us losers and clowns.
Quote:
There can be no serious question that warrantless wiretapping, in violation of the law, is impeachable. After all, Nixon was charged in Article II of his bill of impeachment with illegal wiretapping for what he, too, claimed were national security reasons.
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If this congress doesn't hold this administration accountable, then Democracy in America has failed.
Quote:
Ex-Church Official Jailed For Child Porn
Former Music Director Served At Connecticut Church Attended By President George H.W. Bush.
But you sure can judge a commenter by I D name.
Please tell that to the Neo-Fascists, the Osama apologists, and the Bush haters that post here.
If you don't like that, and you don't mind the "Blame America" mentality, then tough...
Just watch out for some cooked up reason to declair marshall law before the election--(perhaps Iran)because in the past, this guy went around making sure the polls were closed "on time" --to help him win the election (established fact).
That's another good (actions louder than words)indicator of what he thinks of the voting public--and the American people.
The nation, the government, and the military is now rather obviously certain by majority that this "President" does not represent the will of the people, in very, very large measure.
Reversing that new clarity we have gained at great cost--is like turning a gold bar into a cow pie.
"Not 'gonna do."
H.L. Mencken in the 1920s
How prophetic! Not just once did the voters elect a moron, but they elected the same moron twice, even after he proved during the first four years he really was a moron.
If not for Andy Card and Carl Rove, Bush would be just another 'unknown' failure, instead of the 'world renown' failure that he is.
SHOULD U.S. SEND 20,000 MORE TROOPS TO IRAQ?
Favor
29%
Oppose
66%
Bush has always been an incompetent lier. It's just that he had to go out and really prove it before a lot of people would come to understand. Now, all but the brain-dead do.
Posted by badaxmofo at 09:08 PM : Jan 22, 2007"
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Drink the kool aid often, doncha?
NOT ONE, NADA, ZILCH, ZERO! What am I referring to? A democratic incumbent in the house or senate who lost their seat in Nov.
The republicans lost the house AND the senate. That's pretty *** bad if you ask me.
And heck, if you add in all the votes the right wing nutjobs nullified by despicable reasons, the margin would've been higher. Bush is a joke, no one likes him, he's uncaring about finding Osama, he's said it, he has no clue that the entire WORLD and that includes US, do not want his false war that makes his buddies billions at the defense contractors. For all we know YOU ARE one of the profiteers!
cafepress.com/warisprofitable found the find osama sticker there!
One doesn't have to look very far to see the truth in those statements. With Iran and N. Korea as the 'axis of evil' with the real power to harm us, Bush chose to attack Iraq. He had been planning this attack since the first few days in office in 2001. Due to the numerous lies, the reason was cloudy at first. First it was to avenge Saddam's attempt to kill Bush 41; then it was WMD; then it was nation building; or was it democracy building. It's very obvious the middle east can't handle democracy as we know it. Middle easterners can't separate theocracy from democracy; can't separate the church from the state.
The real reason for the war is the 'oil' stupid! And to protect the interests of the wealthy oil companies that run this country. Think about what it would mean to the oil companies if we suddenly found a substitute for oil.
%u201CConservatism is a ploy to get you (the middle class and non-wealthy) to help the wealthy and super wealthy in this country protect their positions and possessions."
If your hubby cheated on you in the same manner as Bill did/does on Hillary, wouldn't you leave him, kick him out, immediately???"
Posted by badaxmofo
What Clinton did to 'that woman' Bush is doing to all of us. And you will be paying for a very long time, whether you want to admit it or not. The Bush deficit can't be ignored for very long. Anyone with a 'white collar' job should be able to figure that out. Even you, badaxmofo.
Posted by badaxmofo
Well then, tell me, white collar man, what is the reason. Anything else that you can come up with was already dispelled by the 9/11 commission.
Bush "cheated on" all of us.
Too bad we can't kick him out immediately.
Did you bother to look at the political affiliation or racial composition of the respondents to this poll?
Perhaps it's wishful thinking on the part of CBS, but this country is NOT 36% Democrat and 25% Republican as this poll was weighted, and the black vote is nowhere near commensurate with their population.
Bush's true approval rating is ~40% as per the LA Times and Rasmussen; hardly a ringing endorsement by the American electorate. When MSM fixtures like CBS and Newsweek deliberately skew data to effect an adverse impact on Bush's presidency, it is the media, not President Bush, that is ultimately rendered less credible.
No one can be that stupid.
badaxmofo
Please tell us how Iraq and 9/11 are connected?
Posted by badaxmofo
Probably not, but you make a big deal of a rhetorical question that can't be answered. Would you be in your cozy white collar job if you hadn't met a particular person or made a particular decision? Or was that vocation decided for you at birth? If you are one of those wealthy conservatives I referred to, it's quite possible that decision was made for your before birth.
Posted by badaxmofo
You should know as well as anyone posting here that Bush had nothing to do with that. The IRS simply got more agressive in collecting back taxes from tax cheats.
Posted by badaxmofo
Even a moron can get lucky once in a while.
Come on, 'mofo, you can do better than that...
If you're so supportive of Bush and his Iraq policies along with his War on Iraq, then why aren't you over there doing the fighting?
Why is it that you and other Republicanazis and Neo-Cons don't have the b*lls to go and fight for what you believe in?
Are you of military age? Are you fat and mentally deficient? Or are you just a coward?
Maybe all of the above?
How was Sadam connected to 9/11 and Al Qaeda?
What was the threat?
It's time to top using legislation and law enforcement to solve all our problems. Making more things illegal and putting more people in jail isn't working. Wake up, people!
Prohibition doesn't work--and we haven't tried anything else. We just reinvent prohibition--or prohibit something different. Meanwhile, our courts are clogged with endless cases that shouldn't be there in the first place.
Bush is just a symptom of the sickness in the minds of the American people.
Possibly... But I think he's one of those over-paid wealthy conservatives who's not about to do anything 'courageous' and risk it all. Like I said, "Conservativism is about protecting the wealthy..." But the wealthy conservatives aren't the ones doin' the protectin'.
It's called a sample of the population. And yes, it's an effective statistical method when done correctly. Are you suggesting that because they didn't poll all 300 million Americans that the poll isn't acurate? Did you ever take statistics?
"Bush hater gets tossed from jet"
www.newsmax.com
Attn: Neo-Fat Bozos - who's next?? g
Please tell us how was Sadam connected to 9/11 and Al Qaeda?
What was the threat?
It doesn't mean *****, canyongear, if you didn't believe the polls prior to the November election. However, with poll numbers like that, the law of averages isn't favoring your or Bush's side.
I know you're gonna spew...but if you have the common sense to read Stephen Hayes and Yossef Bodansky without referring to the usual Fascist Neo-Con BS, the evidence is there, especially in Hayes' book on the Saddam-Al Qaida connection.
Ok will you please tell us how Sadam was connected to 9/11 and Al Qaeda?
What was the threat?
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