Bush Job Approval Steady at 34%

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds little change in President George W. Bush's job approval rating, with one in three Americans approving of his overall job performance. While quite low relative to other presidents' ratings, Bush's job score has shown little fluctuation so far this year. When asked to rate Bush's handling of four key issues -- terrorism, the economy, foreign affairs, and Iraq -- Americans are most positive about his handling of terrorism, and most negative about his handling of the war in Iraq. Similar to the trend in his overall rating, the president's ratings on these four issues have not shown much change this year.

Overall Job Approval

According to the May 4-6, 2007, poll, 34% of Americans approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president, while 63% disapprove.

There has not been much change in the president's job approval rating so far this year, or even since last October. Bush's average approval rating in 2007 is 35%. His 2007 low is 32% (in an early February poll) and his high is 38% (in early April). Bush is entering his eighth straight month of sub-40% approval ratings, a dismal streak surpassed by only two other presidents -- Harry Truman from October 1950 to December 1952 and Richard Nixon from July 1973 to August 1974.

Given the stability of Bush's approval ratings, a combined dataset based on Gallup's last three surveys, conducted in April and May, is useful to gain a better understanding of the president's ratings among different groups of Americans. The combined results show that Bush's ratings vary most by political attitudes, as is typically the case.

• Bush's approval rating is at 75% among Republicans, 31% among independents, and only 8% among Democrats.
  
  
• Fifty-nine percent of self-described conservatives say they approve of Bush, much higher than the 27% among moderates and 12% among liberals.
  
  
• Republicans and Democrats at opposing ends of the ideological spectrum are most divergent in their views of the president.
  
  

Conservative Republicans show the highest level of support for Bush, with a 78% approval rating, while liberal Democrats show the lowest support level, with only a 6% approval rating (92% of liberal Democrats disapprove of Bush). Moderate and conservative Democrats' ratings differ only slightly from liberal Democrats' ratings. A smaller percentage, but still a majority, of moderate or liberal Republicans approve of Bush.

In addition to political attitudes, Gallup also finds that gender, race, and household income present strong dividing lines in attitudes toward the president. Bush's approval rating is significantly higher among men than among women, among whites than among blacks, among those residing in higher-income households than among those in lower-income households, and among frequent churchgoers than among those who attend services less often. Southerners give Bush a higher average approval rating than do those residing in the East. The results show only minor variations by age and education.

Issues Approval

The latest poll included a question asking Americans to rate the president's performance on four key issues facing the nation right now: the economy, foreign affairs, terrorism, and the situation in Iraq. Bush scores highest on his handling of terrorism and lowest on Iraq.

Forty-seven percent of Americans say they approve of the way Bush is handling terrorism. Bush receives 39% approval on the economy, 35% on foreign affairs, and 30% on Iraq.

Bush's ratings on terrorism, Iraq, and foreign affairs have been fairly stable this year, but his approval rating on the economy has declined slightly, from 45% at the start of the year to 39% in the latest poll.

Bush's current ratings on terrorism and foreign affairs are about the same as his average ratings on these issues so far this year, at 46% and 34%, respectively. The 39% current rating on the economy is slightly lower than the president's 42% average this year, and the 30% rating on Iraq is two points better than his 2007 average. Bush's 26% approval rating on Iraq in January and February were the lowest Gallup has recorded.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,010 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted May 4-6, 2007. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error 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.