AP Poll: Bush public approval hits new low
WASHINGTON (AP) - April 10, 2008 A survey released Thursday showed 28 percent approve of the
overall job Bush is doing. That was statistically tied with his
previous low in the poll of 30 percent last month and in February.
Only 27 percent are happy with his job on the economy, which
threatens to enter a recession and which many national surveys show
is voters' top worry. That was worse than his previous low of 29
percent approval for handling the economy set in February, and down
4 percentage points from last month.
Congress was rated positively by 23 percent, a point above its
worst mark. It has been mired in poor ratings since last summer,
with many Democrats complaining it has not challenged Bush
strenuously enough on Iraq and other issues and Republicans
generally unhappy with its Democratic leaders.
Highlighting Bush's broad unpopularity, 60 percent of
Republicans approved of his overall job, his weakest showing yet
with members of his own party. Just 7 percent of Democrats and 17
percent of independents approve.
On the economy, 54 percent of Republicans approve of Bush's
efforts, another low.
His approval by all adults for handling domestic matters like
health care fell 7 points to 27 percent, his steepest drop this
month. His ratings for dealing with Iraq and other foreign policy
issues were low but stable.
Overall, 24 percent said the country is heading in the right
direction, about the same gloomy assessment the public has had for
months.
The AP-Ipsos poll began in December 2003. The all-time low
presidential approval in the Gallup Poll was President Truman's 23
percent in 1952 during the Korean War.
The AP-Ipsos poll was taken from April 7-9 and involved
telephone interviews with 1,005 adults. The margin of sampling
error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
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AP Director of Surveys Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey
Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
www.ap-ipsosresults.com