President Bush’s job approval rating has remained in the low 40s despite a more favorable public rating of his handling of Hurricane Rita than Hurricane Katrina, the storm that demolished his approval rating nearly a month ago…
The survey finds that, despite a more favorable rating for Hurricane Rita preparation and leadership, President Bush continues to be viewed in negative terms for the government’s performance during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It also finds that his signature strong issue, the War on Terror, has ticked downward slightly, and his handling of the war is now approved by a minority of voters.
In a sign of ongoing difficulty for the administration, however, fewer Americans say the nation is heading in the right direction than a month ago, with just 40% saying the nation is on the right track—versus 54% who say it is headed in the wrong direction, a number that has ticked upwards a point since last month’s poll…
President Bush’s 43% approval rating marks a slight increase from last month’s 41%, but a significant decline from post-re-election numbers posted as recently as this February.
The Presidents approval rating of 43% is misleading. Polled about the Vietnam war, 31% still think our involvment there was a good thing. This indicates how many mentally challenged people there are in the country. I propose that all polls be re-calibrated by eliminating these challenged people so that 31% is the starting point. Thus Bush’s poll numbers indicate that 43%-31% = 12% approval rating among those people in the country that are capable of some critical thinking.
R Ringelstetter makes an excellent statistical argument; if roughly 30% perpetually support the GOP (and conversely another 30% the Democrats), then indeed his approval rating ‘amongst those capable/open to changing their opinion’ is about 13%. Someone should study this sociological aspect of polling further. On top of this, it should be pointed out to the ‘religious right’ that statistically speaking they only make up roughly 20-30% of the electorate, so why should they demand more than 30% representation on the Supreme Court? All in all, very interesting…
I can’t wait til the various investigations get farther along and mounting pressure causes Bush–who is at his core a pampered coward–to collapse mentally. Bush’s very public unraveling be a deliciously satisfying spectacle we’ve all had coming to us for five long years.