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Little Change in Public Perceptions of Bush

Little Change in Public Perceptions of Bush

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ – A recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that Americans continue to view President George W. Bush positively on a number of dimensions, including his performance as president, his personal characteristics, and overall evaluations of him. Nearly eight in 10 Americans say they have a favorable opinion of Bush, and 77% approve of the way he is handling his job as president. At least a majority of Americans give him positive ratings on a long list of personal characteristics. While Bush's approval and favorability ratings have shown inevitable decline from their high points that occurred after Sept. 11, ratings of the president's personal characteristics have shown little change in recent months.

The poll, conducted, April 29-May 1, finds that 79% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Bush while 19% have an unfavorable opinion. This is down slightly from Bush's personal high rating of 87% last November and an 83% rating in January, but is the third highest rating for Bush since he arrived on the national political scene in 1999.

Opinion of George W. Bush
Note: Sep – Nov, 2000: asked of registered voters

Bush's job approval has remained in the mid-to-high 70s over the last two months, after being in the low 80s throughout January and February. Bush's job approval has shown a gradual decline from a high of 90% in a Sept. 21-22, 2001 poll. Even with the decline, Bush's current job approval ratings still rank among the highest in Gallup's polling history.

Personal Characteristics Show Little Change

Gallup's most recent poll asked the public to rate Bush on each of 13 personal characteristics. At least a majority says each of the characteristics applies to Bush. Bush's strengths appear to be his leadership qualities and his honesty, as the vast majority of the public believes he "provides good moral leadership" (84%), "is a strong and decisive leader" (77%), "is honest and trustworthy" (77%), and "is sincere in what he says" (76%). One relative weakness for Bush is that only a slim majority (54%) believes he is "not a typical politician."

 

RATINGS OF GEORGE W. BUSH'S QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS

2002 Apr 29-May 1


Applies

Doesn't apply

%

%

Provides good moral leadership

84

15

Is a strong and decisive leader

77

21

Is honest and trustworthy

77

20

Is sincere in what he says

76

21

Can manage the government effectively

75

21

Works well with both parties to get things done in Washington

73

23

Puts the country's interests ahead of his own political interests

72

22

Understands complex issues

68

27

Shares your values

67

30

Cares about the needs of people like you

66

31

Is a person you admire

64

33

Generally agrees with you on issues you care about (other than terrorism)

64

33

Is not a typical politician

54

41



Bush's ratings on many of the personal characteristics show little change from October, a time when his job approval rating was 10 points higher than it is now. When Bush's characteristics were measured then, most showed rather large positive gains from the previous, pre-Sept. 11 measurements, with most increasing at least 10 percentage points.

Looking at the six characteristics asked both now and last October, only one ("sincere in what he says") shows substantial decline, an eight-point drop from 84% to 76%. The ratings on the other characteristics have changed very little, and two actually show slightly more positive ratings now than in October.

 

CHANGE IN RATINGS OF BUSH'S PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, OCT 2001-MAY 2002


Oct


Apr/May

Change

%

%

Is a strong and decisive leader

75

77

+2

Is sincere in what he says

84

76

-8

Can manage the government effectively

79

75

-4

Understands complex issues

69

68

-1

Cares about the needs of people like you

69

66

-3

Generally agrees with you on issues you care about other than terrorism

60

64

+4



Five of the characteristics were measured at earlier time points, and all show significant positive gains similar to what was observed in October for the characteristics discussed above, with gains exceeding 10 percentage points.

 

CHANGE IN RATINGS OF BUSH'S PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, 2000 TO 2002


Previous (month)


Apr/May ‘02

Change

%

%

Shares your values

56 (Aug '01)

67

+11

Is honest and trustworthy

66 (July '01)

77

+11

Is a person you admire

49 (Feb '01)

64

+15

(Would) work(s) well with both parties to get things done in Washington

55 (Feb '00)

73

+18

Is not a typical politician

35 (Feb ‘00)

54

+19



Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,002 adults, 18 years and older, conducted April 29-May 1, 2002. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 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.

Thinking about the following characteristics and qualities, please say whether you think it applies or doesn't apply to George W. Bush. How about – [ROTATED]?

Shares your values

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

67

30

3

2001 Aug 10-12

56

41

3

2001 Jul 10-11

56

40

4

2001 Apr 20-22

58

39

3

2001 Feb 9-11

57

39

4

2000 Mar 10-12

52

41

7

2000 Jan 17-19

55

32

13

1999 Sep 10-14

56

34

10

1999 Mar 12-14

58

31

11



Cares about the needs of people like you

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

66

31

3

2001 Oct 5-6

69

29

2

2001 Jul 10-11

57

40

3

2001 Apr 20-22

59

39

2

2001 Feb 9-11

56

39

5

2000 Mar 10-12

51

42

7

2000 Jan 17-19

56

33

11

1999 Sep 10-14

59

32

9

1999 Mar 12-14

59

32

9



Is a strong and decisive leader

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

77

21

2

2001 Oct 5-6

75

23

2

2001 Aug 10-12

55

43

2

2001 Jul 10-11

57

40

3

2001 Apr 20-22

60

37

3

2001 Feb 9-11

61

34

5

2000 Mar 10-12

63

30

7

2000 Feb 25-27

61

32

7

2000 Feb 20-21

58

33

9

2000 Feb 4-6

62

30

8

2000 Jan 17-19

66

24

10

1999 Mar 4

60

14

26



Generally agrees with you on issues you care about, other than terrorism

BASED ON --487-- NATIONAL ADULTS

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

64

32

4

2001 Oct 5-6

60

36

4



Generally agrees with you on issues you care about

BASED ON --515-- NATIONAL ADULTS

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

64

33

3

2001 Feb 9-11

53

43

4

2000 Mar 10-12

49

44

7

2000 Feb 25-27

51

41

8

1999 Mar 12-14

54

35

11



COMBINED RESPONSES

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

64

33

3



Understands complex issues

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

68

27

5

2001 Oct 5-6

69

27

4

2001 Apr 20-22

56

38

6

2001 Feb 9-11

55

38

7

2000 Jan 17-19

60

26

14



Is sincere in what he says

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

76

21

3

2001 Oct 5-6

84

15

1

2001 Aug 10-12

66

31

3



Can manage the government effectively

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

75

21

4

2001 Oct 5-6

79

19

2

2001 Feb 9-11

61

31

8

2000 Mar 10-12

64

28

8

2000 Jan 17-19

66

22

12

1999 Sep 10-14

72

19

9

1999 Mar 12-14

77

15

8



Is honest and trustworthy

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

77

20

3

2001 Jul 10-11

66

31

3

2001 Apr 20-22

67

29

4

2001 Feb 9-11

64

29

7

2000 Mar 10-12

64

28

8

1999 Sep 10-12

62

29

9



Is a person you admire

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

64

33

3

2001 Feb 9-11

49

47

4

2000 Feb 20-21

45

49

6



Works well with both parties to get things done in Washington

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

73

23

4

2000 Feb 25-27

55

37

8



Is not a typical politician

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

54

41

5

2000 Feb 25-27

35

59

6

2000 Feb 20-21

36

58

6

1999 Mar 12-14

41

53

6



Puts the country's interests ahead of his own political interests

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

72

22

6



Provides good moral leadership

 

Applies

Doesn't apply

No opinion

%

%

%

2002 Apr 29-May 1

84

15

1




Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/5977/little-change-public-perceptions-bush.aspx
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