Americans have a bleaker view of the country's direction than at any time in more than two decades, and sharp disapproval of President Bush's handling of gasoline prices has combined with intensified unhappiness about Iraq to create a grim political environment for the White House and Congressional Republicans, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
The New York Times
Mr. Bush's approval rating for his management of foreign policy, Iraq and the economy have fallen to the lowest levels of his presidency. He drew poor marks on the specific issues that have been at the top of the national agenda in recent months — in particular, immigration and gas prices — underscoring the difficulty the administration faces in reversing its political fortunes.
Just 13 percent approved of Mr. Bush's handling of rising gas prices. Only one-quarter said they approved of his handling of immigration, as Congressional Republicans struggle to come up with a compromise to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants into the country.
The poll showed a continued decline in support for the war, the issue that has most eaten into Mr. Bush's public support. The percentage of respondents who said going to war in Iraq was the correct decision slipped to a new low of 39 percent, down from 47 percent in January. Two-thirds said they have little or no confidence that Mr. Bush will be able to successfully end the war there.
Mr. Bush's political strength continues to dissipate. About two-thirds of voters said that Mr. Bush does not share their priorities, up from just over half right before his reelection in 2004. About two thirds said and that the country is in worse shape than it was when he came to power six years ago. Forty-two percent of respondents say they consider Mr. Bush a strong leader, a drop of 11 points since January.
Mr. Bush's overall job approval rating hit another new low, 31 percent, tying the low point of his father, George H. W. Bush, in July 1992, four months before the elder Mr. Bush lost his bid for a second term to Bill Clinton. That is the third lowest approval rating of any president in 50 years; only Richard M. Nixon and Jimmy Carter were viewed less favorably.
Mr. Bush is even losing support in what has been his base: 51 percent of conservatives and 69 percent of Republicans now approve of the way Mr. Bush is handling his job. In both cases, those figures represent a substantial drop in support from four months ago.
"We should have stayed out of Iraq until we knew more about it," Bernice Davis, a Republican from Missouri who said she now disapproves of Mr. Bush's performance, said in a follow-up interview today. "The economy is going to pot. Gas prices are escalating. I just voted for Bush because he's a Republican, even though I disapproved of the war. If I could go back, I would not vote for him."
The Times/CBS News poll contained few if any bright notes for Mr. Bush and the Republican Party; it reflected a starkly pessimistic view of the country by Americans and, six months before the midterm election, offered a harsh assessment of the policies and performance of the president and Congress.
Although the composition of Congressional districts will make it hard for the Democrats to recapture control of Capitol Hill in the fall, the poll suggested that the trend is moving in their direction. Just 23 percent said they approve of the job Congress is doing, down from 29 percent in January. That is about the same level of support for Congress as in the fall of 1994, when Republicans seized control of the House.
Americans said that Democrats would do a better job dealing with Iraq, gas prices, immigration, taxes, prescription drug and civil liberties. Fifty percent said Democrats come closer than Republicans in sharing their moral values. A majority said Republican members of Congress were more likely to be financially corrupt than a Democratic member of Congress, suggesting that Democrats might be making headway in their efforts to portray Republicans as having created a "culture of corruption" in Washington.
By a margin of better than two to one, Democrats were seen as having more new ideas than Republicans. And half of respondents, the highest yet, said it was better when different parties control the two branches of government, reflecting one of the major arguments being laid out by Congressional Democrats in their bid to win back the House or Senate.
Americans said that Republicans would do a better job at maintaining a stronger military than Democrats. But the Republicans now have only a slight edge on fighting terrorism, an issue that has helped account for the party's political dominance the attacks of Sept. 11.
The nationwide telephone poll, of 1,241 adults, was conducted from May 4 to May 8. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
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