Steady State for Bush Approval Continues

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds continued stability in public opinion about President George W. Bush, as his 43% job approval rating has not wavered in over a month's worth of polling. Likewise, Bush's approval ratings for his handling of specific issues also show little change when compared to Gallup's most recent readings. Of the seven issues tested, Bush is rated most positively for his handling of terrorism, and lowest for his handling of immigration.

The Jan. 20-22 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds 43% of Americans approving of the job Bush is doing as president. That is the same rating Bush received in three prior Gallup polls, dating back to a Dec. 19-22, 2005, survey. His disapproval rating during that time has been 53% or 54%.

Bush's approval rating has been in the low 40s since early December, after falling to a new low of 37% in November. Public approval of Bush was last at or above 50% in May 2005.

Across the last four polls in which he received 43% approval ratings, Bush has averaged an 87% approval rating among Republicans and 12% among Democrats. That approval rating among Republicans is the highest among key subgroups, while the Democratic approval rating is among the lowest (along with 11% among liberals).

The gap of 75 percentage points between Republicans and Democrats is large by historical standards, but Bush has had partisan divides as great as 83 percentage points previously in his tenure.

While not as great as the partisan divide, Bush's approval rating shows some divergence by race and region of the country. Forty-eight percent of whites approve of Bush, compared with 14% of blacks. At 36%, Bush's approval rating among eastern residents is lower than that among residents of the Midwest (43%), South (47%) or West (46%).

The new poll also tested public opinion of Bush's handling of seven major issues. Of these, Bush only gets favorable marks on terrorism, with 52% of the public approving of his performance. His ratings on handling the problems caused by Hurricane Katrina, the economy, and the situation in Iraq are similar to his overall job approval rating. He is rated more negatively on healthcare, immigration, and corruption in government.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

All of the approval ratings are in line with what Gallup found the last time it measured them.

For the most part, like his overall job rating, Bush's marks on these issues were higher at earlier points in his presidency, and his current ratings are among the lowest he has received while in office.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,006 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Jan. 20-22. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.