If You Had 15 Minutes With President Bush…

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- It wasn't uncommon in the old days for presidents of the United States to personally entertain the public -- holding receptions, meeting average citizens in greeting lines, and taking occasions to hear what the people of the country were thinking and feeling.

But no more. In today's high security environment, of course, that's much less possible. The president of the United States is highly protected, and rarely, if ever, comes into enough contact with the average citizens of the country to get any kind of unfiltered feedback or advice.

Polling helps in that regard. Well-done scientific polls provide an assessment of what the people of the country are thinking and feeling at any given point in time. These polls provide an invaluable connection between elected representatives and the people they represent.

Although President George W. Bush has publicly proclaimed that he doesn't pay attention to polls, it is clear that his White House staff and advisors -- particularly White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove -- monitor public opinion as measured in polls quite carefully.

Most polls measure public opinion on issues as framed by the pollster: assessments of certain policy initiatives or overall reaction to plans, legislation, and events. From time to time, Gallup thinks it is useful to simply let Americans share what's on their minds, without prompting or pre-ordained question categories.

So Gallup's April 18-21, 2005, national poll of 1,003 randomly selected Americans included this simple question: "If you could talk with President Bush for 15 minutes and give him advice about anything that's on your mind, what would you tell him?"

The answers are fascinating and informative, ranging the gamut from simple praise or criticism for Bush's job performance, to a focus on very specific issues like abortion, immigration, and reforming welfare, to those who implore Bush to fix major problems such as the economy, healthcare, education, and, above all, the war in Iraq.

Reading through these comments is a fascinating exercise, and provides a unique and direct insight into the directions the American people would give to their commander in chief if given a chance.

In order to facilitate that process, Gallup listed responses from the more than 1,000 respondents to the survey question, along with the respondents' ages and genders. Click here for the list of responses.

But, not surprisingly, the answers Americans give in response to this question tend to fall into certain patterns and broad types of answers. Gallup coders read through each answer and placed it where possible into broader categories. These categories provide a more systematic view of exactly what the individual citizens want their president to do:

If you could talk with President Bush for 15 minutes and give him advice about anything that's on your mind, what would you tell him? [OPEN-ENDED]

Several patterns emerge from a review of these categorized responses:

1. Iraq -- The single bit of advice for the president that occurs more than any other is to end the war in Iraq and get U.S. troops home. This advice is offered by about 280 of the 1,003 Americans interviewed, or more than one in five. In short, despite Bush's focus on domestic issues in recent months, it is clear that a substantial sector of the public is still very worried about the nation's occupancy in Iraq.

2. Social Security -- Americans, particularly those in the 50- to 64-year-old age group, are clearly worried about Social Security, and more than 1 in 10 would use their visit with the president to talk about what's going to happen to the Social Security system. Unfortunately for the president, Americans seem to be as likely to be concerned about the possible harm that could be done to the system as much as they are about reforms. It appears that many Americans, in short, are concerned about the cure being worse than the disease.

3. The economy -- There is clear concern about the economy, although perhaps not at as high a level as recent consumer confidence numbers might suggest.

4. Energy prices -- A little less than 10% of Americans would implore the president to do something about energy prices.

5. Financial inequality -- It appears that a significant number of Americans, particularly Democrats, would ask the president to do something about the poor, welfare, and the current differences between the haves and the have-nots in the country.

6. Healthcare -- Not a dominant concern, but some Americans would focus the president's attention on making healthcare more available, reigning in healthcare costs, and improving Medicare coverage.

7. Morality -- About 6% of Americans in one way or the other would talk to the president about moral standards in the country today.

Age Differences

Here are the top five categories of advice for President Bush within four major age groups of Americans:

One thing that is very clear is the high level of concern about Social Security among those Americans who are now 50- to 64-years-old -- the group that includes many people who are most likely to be focused on retirement, although not yet in the Social Security system.

It is also clear that younger Americans, ages 18 to 29, are more likely to mention Iraq than those who are older.

Regional Differences

Regional differences to some degree reflect the differences in the regions' political orientations. Bush's highest level of support comes in the South, so it is not surprising that negative comments about getting out of Iraq are lower in the South, where favorable comments about Bush are higher.

Also, those living in the West and South are more likely to mention immigration concerns.

Party Differences

The differences in advice by party are fairly predictable. Republicans would be much more likely to say to the president that he's doing a good job, and much less likely to give him critical advice regarding Iraq. Independents and Democrats are more likely to offer critical advice regarding Iraq, and Democrats -- not surprisingly -- are more likely than average to offer a general negative comment.

There are two other interesting differences by party:

• Democrats are more likely than average to implore the president to do something about inequality and the problem of haves and have-nots in society.

• Republicans are more likely than average to want the president to do something about immigration.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,003 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 18-21, 2005. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sample and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error and bias into the findings of public opinion polls.