GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup poll, conducted March 4-7, shows that 77% of Americans now approve of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president -- the first time that Bush's rating has slipped below 80% since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. The first poll after the terrorist attacks showed an approval rating of 86%, which reached a high of 90% in late September, and remained in the high 80s into December. Since then, it has slowly declined, although it has remained above the 80% mark longer than any other president's rating since Gallup began measuring job approval in the 1930s.
| George W. Bush's Job Approval Rating |
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As shown in the graph below, the decline in Bush's rating has come mostly among Democrats, and to a lesser extent among independents. Republicans, by contrast, show little change in approval. This pattern is the reverse of what happened after the terrorist attacks, when Bush's approval surged most dramatically among Democrats -- by 51 points, from 27% to 78% approval. The increase among independents was also noteworthy, from 44% to 84%, while the change among Republicans was more muted, from 87% to 95%, since they already were giving high ratings to Bush. As Congress and the news media have turned their attention to other issues of national concern, partisan differences that had been muted after the terrorist attacks have once again become prominent. Thus, it is not surprising that Bush's approval is beginning to decline.
| George W. Bush's Job Approval Rating: by Party |
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Survey Methods
Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,006 adults nationwide, aged 18+, conducted March 4-7, 2002. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the 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.
