Terrorism Controversy Does Little to Damage Bush's Standing

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- In recent days, the war on terrorism has been thrust back into the national spotlight, first with the revelation that the Bush administration had information about possible plane hijackings before Sept. 11 and, more recently, with renewed warnings about future terrorist attacks. A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that these news events have done little to affect the way Americans rate the president and the government's ability to protect citizens from terrorist attacks. However, in the face of the new government warnings, Americans increasingly expect further acts of terrorism to occur in the United States.

Public Gives Bush, Administration Benefit of the Doubt on Warnings

The poll, conducted May 20-22, suggests the public agrees with the administration's contention that the information available to it prior to Sept. 11 was not sufficient to prevent the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Sixty-three percent of Americans take this point of view, while 25% believe there was sufficient information to thwart the attacks. When asked to assess the job White House officials did in handling this information, the public is somewhat more divided, with 54% saying the officials did "the best job they could have done" and 44% saying the administration could have done a better job. Among those who say the White House could have done a better job, 52% say the officials' actions represented a "serious error," while 43% say their actions were an "understandable mistake."

So far, the revelations have had little effect on public evaluations of Bush. His job approval rating is holding steady at 76%, unchanged from the previous reading in early May. Only 17% of Americans disapprove of the job Bush is doing as president. Among this group, only 13% (or 2% of all Americans) mention Bush's knowledge of a threat of terrorist attacks prior to Sept. 11 as a reason they disapprove of his performance. Another 15% of disapprovers (and 2% of Americans overall) mention Bush's handling of the war on terrorism as a reason for their negative evaluation.

Other measures of Bush's political standing have changed little following the terrorism controversy. Eighty percent of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of Bush, compared to a 79% favorability rating from an April 29-May 1 poll. Additionally, the public continues to overwhelmingly approve of Bush's handling of foreign affairs (70%) and of U.S. military action abroad to fight terrorism (83%) -- both ratings showing no change since they were last measured, in early April.

Perhaps surprisingly, Americans' confidence in the government to protect its citizens from future terrorist attacks shows only a slight decline following news reports that communication lapses among federal investigatory agencies may have been partly to blame for the government's failure to heed terrorist warnings prior to Sept. 11. The latest poll shows that 22% of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the government to protect its citizens from future terrorist attacks, 54% have a fair amount, and 23% have little or no confidence. In March, when the question was last asked, 24% had a great deal of confidence in the government, 58% had a fair amount and 17% had little or none at all. The numbers remain significantly lower than they were immediately following the terrorist attacks, at which time 41% expressed a great deal of confidence in the government to protect its citizens from terrorism.

Confidence in the U.S. Government to Protect Its Citizens From Future Terrorism

Expectations of Future Terrorism Rising

The renewed focus on terrorism may explain an increase in the percentage of Americans who believe further acts of terrorism are likely to occur. In recent days, the government has announced that national landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge could be possible terrorist targets. The poll shows 65% of Americans say further acts of terrorism are at least somewhat likely to occur in the United States over the next several weeks, including 21% who say the possibility of an attack is very likely. In March, just over half (52%) said further terrorist acts were likely, including just 9% who thought these were very likely. The current level of 65% is the highest Gallup has found since last November, but below the roughly eight in 10 observed in October.

Likelihood That There Will Be Further Acts of Terrorism in the United States

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,002 adults, 18 years and older, conducted May 20-22, 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.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

 

 

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
2002 May 20-22	76	17	7
2002 May 6-9	76	19	5
2002 Apr 29-May 1	77	20	3
2002 Apr 22-24	77	17	6
2002 Apr 8-11	75	20	5
2002 Apr 5-7	76	19	5
2002 Mar 22-24	79	17	4
2002 Mar 18-20	79	16	5
2002 Mar 8-9	80	14	6
2002 Mar 4-7	77	18	5
2002 Mar 1-3	81	14	5
2002 Feb 8-10	82	14	4
2002 Feb 4-6	82	14	4
2002 Jan 25-27	84	13	3
2002 Jan 11-14	83	13	4
2002 Jan 7-9	84	12	4
2001 Dec 14-16	86	11	3
2001 Dec 6-9	86	10	4
2001 Nov 26-27	87	8	5
2001 Nov 8-11	87	9	4
2001 Nov 2-4	87	9	4
2001 Oct 19-21	88	9	3
2001 Oct 11-14	89	8	3
2001 Oct 5-6	87	10	3
2001 Sep 21-22	90	6	4
2001 Sep 14-15	86	10	4
2001 Sep 7-10	51	39	10
2001 Aug 24-26	55	36	9
2001 Aug 16-19	57	34	9
2001 Aug 10-12	57	35	8
2001 Aug 3-5	55	35	10
2001 Jul 19-22	56	33	11
2001 Jul 10-11	57	35	8
2001 Jun 28-Jul 1	52	34	14
2001 Jun 11-17	55	33	12
2001 Jun 8-10	55	35	10
2001 May 18-20	56	36	8
2001 May 10-14	56	31	13
2001 May 7-9	53	33	14
2001 Apr 20-22	62	29	9
2001 Apr 6-8	59	30	11
2001 Mar 26-28	53	29	18
2001 Mar 9-11	58	29	13
2001 Mar 5-7	63	22	15
2001 Feb 19-21	62	21	17
2001 Feb 9-11	57	25	18
2001 Feb 1-4	57	25	18

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

A. The economy

 

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
2002 May 20-22	61	29	10
2002 Apr 5-7 ^	60	33	7
2002 Mar 22-24	65	29	6
2002 Mar 1-3	64	31	5
2002 Feb 4-6	66	30	4
2002 Jan 25-27	64	30	6
2001 Nov 2-4 ^	71	24	5
2001 Oct 5-6	72	23	5
2001 Jul 10-11	54	36	10
2001 May 18-20	51	41	8
2001 Apr 20-22^	55	38	7
2001 Mar 9-11	55	32	13
2001 Feb 1-4	53	27	20
^ Asked of half sample.

B. Foreign affairs

 

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
2002 May 20-22	70	23	7
2002 Apr 5-7 ^	70	24	6
2002 Mar 22-24	71	22	7
2002 Mar 1-3	78	17	5
2002 Feb 4-6	79	16	5
2002 Jan 25-27	83	14	3
2001 Oct 5-6	81	14	5
2001 Jul 10-11	54	33	13
2001 May 18-20	55	35	10
2001 Apr 20-22^	56	31	13
2001 Mar 9-11	52	27	21
2001 Feb 1-4	46	21	33
^ Asked of half sample.

C. U.S. military action abroad to fight terrorism

 

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
2002 May 20-22	83	13	4
2002 Apr 5-7 ^	83	13	4
2002 Mar 22-24 ^	86	12	2
2001 Nov 2-4 ^	87	10	3
^ Asked of half sample.

Next, we'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of this person -- or if you have never heard of him. How about -- [ITEM A, ITEMS B-E ROTATED]?

 

A. George W. Bush

	Favorable	Unfavor- able	No opinion
	%	%	%
2002
(NA) 2002 May 20-22	80	18	2
(NA) 2002 Apr 29-May 1	79	19	2
(NA) 2002 Jan 11-14	83	15	2
2001
(NA) 2001 Nov 26-27	87	11	2
(NA) 2001 Aug 3-5	60	35	5
(NA) 2001 Jun 8-10	62	36	2
(NA) 2001 Apr 20-22	65	32	3
(NA) 2001 Mar 9-11	63	32	5
(NA) 2001 Mar 5-7	69	28	3
(NA) 2001 Feb 19-21	67	27	6
(NA) 2001 Feb 1-4	64	33	3
(NA) 2001 Jan 15-16	62	36	2
2000
(NA) 2000 Dec 15-17	59	36	5
(NA) 2000 Dec 2-4	56	40	4
(NA) 2000 Nov 13-15	53	43	4
(RV) 2000 Nov 13-15	54	43	3
(RV) 2000 Nov 4-5	55	39	6
(RV) 2000 Oct 24-26	62	33	5
(RV) 2000 Oct 23-25	60	35	5
(RV) 2000 Oct 20-22	59	37	4
(RV) 2000 Oct 5-7	58	36	6
(RV) 2000 Sep 28-30	55	38	7
(RV) 2000 Sep 15-17	51	41	8
(NA) 2000 Aug 18-19	60	34	6
(NA) 2000 Aug 4-5	67	28	5
(NA) 2000 Jul 25-26	63	31	6
(NA) 2000 Jul 14-16	64	29	7
(NA) 2000 Jun 23-25	60	31	9
(NA) 2000 Jun 6-7	64	29	7
(NA) 2000 Apr 28-30	61	33	6
(NA) 2000 Mar 10-12	63	32	5
(NA) 2000 Feb 25-27	57	35	8
(NA) 2000 Feb 20-21	58	35	7
(NA) 2000 Feb 4-6	63	31	6
(NA) 2000 Jan 17-19	66	26	8
1999
(NA) 1999 Dec 9-12	68	25	7
(NA) 1999 Oct 21-24	71	21	8
(NA) 1999 Oct 8-10	70	25	5
(NA) 1999 Sep 23-26	71	22	7
(NA) 1999 Aug 16-18	68	21	11
(NA) 1999 Jun 25-27	69	16	15
(NA) 1999 Apr 13-14	73	15	12
(NA) 1999 Feb 19-21	69	12	19
(NA) National Adults
(RV) Registered Voters

How likely is it that there will be further acts of terrorism in the United States over the next several weeks -- very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not at all likely?

BASED ON -- 488 -- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM A

 

		Very likely	Somewhat likely	Not too likely	Not at all likely	No opinion
		%	%	%	%	%
2002 May 20-22		21	44	25	7	3
2002 Mar 8-9		9	43	32	13	3
2001 Dec 14-16		17	45	27	8	3
2001 Nov 2-4		24	50	16	6	4
2001 Oct 19-21		40	45	10	3	2
2001 Oct 7 ^ †		41	42	9	4	4
2001 Sep 21-22 †		22	44	24	8	2
^	Polls conducted entirely in one day, such as this one, are subject to additional error or bias not found in polls conducted over several days.
†	WORDING: How likely is it that there will be further terrorist attacks in the United States over the next several weeks -- very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not at all likely?

How much confidence do you have in the U.S. government to protect its citizens from future terrorist attacks -- a great deal, fair amount, not very much, or none at all?

BASED ON -- 514 -- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM B

 

	Great deal	Fair amount	Not very much	None at all	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2002 May 20-22	22	54	18	5	1
2002 Mar 8-9	24	58	15	2	1
2001 Sep 14-15	41	47	9	2	1

As you may know, the administration says that some general information was available to the F.B.I. or White House officials before September 11^th concerning terrorist plans by Osama bin Laden, but that there was no specific information about the September 11^th attacks in particular.

Which comes closer to your view about White House officials' actions in this situation-- [ROTATED: they did the best job they could have done with the information available to them, (or) they could have done a better job handling this information]?

 

	Did the best job	Could have done a better job	No opinion
2002 May 20-22	54%	44	2

Would you describe their actions as -- [ROTATED: a serious error (or) an understandable mistake]?

BASED ON -- 413 -- ADULTS WHO SAY OFFICIALS COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB

 

	Serious error	Understandable mistake	No opinion
2002 May 20-22	52%	43	5

COMBINED RESPONSES (Q.38/Q.39)

 

		2002 May 20-22
Did the best job they could have done with the information available to them		54%
Could have done a better job handling this information		44
(Actions were a serious error)	(23)
(Actions were an understandable mistake)	(19)
(Unsure about actions)	(2)
No opinion		2

Do you think there was enough information available so that the terrorist attacks on September 11^th could have been prevented, or not?

 

	Yes, was	No, was not	No opinion
2002 May 20-22	25%	63	12

Thinking about how the Republicans and Democrats in Congress have reacted to this controversy,

Which comes closer to your view about the Republicans' in Congress reaction -- [ROTATED: they are more interested in protecting the president, (or) they are more interested in finding out what really happened]?

 

	Protecting the president	Finding out what really happened	No opinion
2002 May 20-22	50%	40	10

Which comes closer to your view about the Democrats' in Congress reaction -- [ROTATED: they are more interested in making the president look bad, (or) they are more interested in finding out what really happened]?

 

	Making the president look bad	Finding out what really happened	No opinion
2002 May 20-22	54%	39	7