Bush approval rating at record low *(updated)

       

Seven months before the end of his term, President Bush's approval rating is at an all-time low.

In the just-released Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll, the president won approval from 23% of all registered voters -- including 3% of Democrats and 58% of Republicans. Those numbers are down from February, when he had an approval rating of 35%. His high mark, according to the poll, was in November 2001, just after the 9/11 terror attacks, when the president's popularity rating among registered voters was at 85%.

Perhaps the most interesting number is that 50% of self-described conservatives disapprove of the way the president is handling his job. But conservatives have been besieging The Times with complaints that the sample was overly weighted with Democrats. Jamie Gold, the paper's readers' representative, plans to post a blog response soon. (*Update: This is now online at the Readers' Representative Journal.)

More details on why Americans are unhappy with the president's performance -- especially on the economy -- were just released on The Times' website.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Eric Draper / White House

Comments

[Slappy White]

23 percent seems awfully generous..

[BigJoe]

Only reason 23% still support him is a "back our team" mentality. Privately, most Republicans I know feel Bush has destroyed the party.

Of course it wasn't just the man but the policies that most Republicans had at the time supported that have failed.

But that would require people admitting that much of the conservative positions are wrong... Not going to happen. Easier to lay it all on Bubba.

[Erik Larson]

the only reason it's as high as 23% is cuz of the generally shameful job the corporate media do of reporting on what's really going on. It's amazing the stuff that happens and never becomes a big story- like Sibel Edmonds breaking her gag order and telling the London Sunday Times about officials in Congress/State/Pentagon trafficking in drugs, arms and nuclear secrets, with hardly a mention from the US MSM- contrast that with Britney driving drunk

Complete 911 Timeline
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/project.jsp?project=911_project

[coloradovet]

There's always going to be that small margin of people who are completely ignorant. Anyone who approves of this rotten jerk doesn't have a shred of an idea of what a leader should be. I wouldn't trust this guy to run a McDonalds!

[FreedomOfinformationAct]

Bushs approval rating was at 19 percent in February...and it's much worse now....the MSM refuses to report on the reality that dumbya's poll numbers are more than likely in the single digits and john mcsame mcbush jr is going to lose in a landslide on November 4th 2008.

[Lorin]

George has an approval rating higher than that do nothing liberal Congress, what a waste those votes were in 2006.

[Tim Connelly]

It is truly mind boggling that pollsters can find any sane person who is in favor of President Bush (and his cronies), and the disastrous war in Iraq. I strongly recommend Vincent Buliosi's recent book, "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder". How can anyone support a murderer? I recommend that the Republican Party should just disband, or at least change their name. I would be truly embarassed and ashamed if I had voted for W. Bush. I could go on-- but it would be redundant!

[Steve Savage]

I know some of the folks in this 23%. My experience is not that they are ignorant or bad people at all, but they are people who get their news from a very narrow range of sources (I'm sure you can guess what they are). I'm sure this phenomenon also occurs on the far left.

This is what is disturbing - that we now have hyper-partisan news sources feeding people what they want to hear. This does not have to be the case - you can read multiple points of view on the internet and overcome the fact that virtually any source has some bias - intentional or not. My sense is that there are still many news sources striving for objectivity, it is just that some people have opted to go to those that don't (no matter what they claim).

[David Vida]

Guess the best thing by the failed implementation of standard U.S foreign policy is that Obama is a sure bet against a geriatric who still supports Bush's mandate. At least Obama's mandate is proven to have good judgment. As General Wesley Clark stated. being a POW and a pilot doesn't give you executive experience, it just gives you cover for hollow patriots wanting to be part of the flag waving club.

[Chris S]

The sample was not overweighted with Democrats; thanks to Bush, the country is now "overweighted" with Democrats. I still don't know how anyone, even only 23%, can approve of this president. Which rock do these people live under?

[merkey88]

Leave it to the Republicans who are still supporting Bush to look for excuses for why this hit a new low. Of course, it could never be the GOP's fault...

[C. Sykes]

Countdown to Crawford? I don't think so.

I went down to Crawford when Cindy Sheehan was down there...the place was practically a shrine to Bush. I understand its not so much that way now. But Crawford is a small, hot little Texas town, and the nearest "big city" is Waco. If they think Bush is actually going to retire there, they're deluding themselves. He's a multi-millionaire with family and business ties on the East Coast...I guarantee he's not going to live on his Crawford "ranch" which was never more than window dressing in the first place, since the man is scared of horses and the only cattle on the place are a few Longhorns given to him as gifts.

Every small Texas town inevitably has a sign you see as you go into town, proudly proclaiming that town the home of the local high school football team. As I drove into Crawford, the sign instead displayed a full-color photo of Bush and Laura Bush, grinning and waving. It was until I left that I saw that the back of the sign read "Crawford, Texas, Home of the Pirates." The writing was faded and the sign was peeling. I thought that so sad. I hope that when Bush leaves for the Hamptons (he might keep the "ranch" as a tax writeoff) that they'll repaint the front of the sign to again celebrate their true local treasures, their high school kids....if they haven't done that already.

[Seabear70]

Is there a mathematician in the house?

How lopsided was the polling if the reported 58% of republicans approved of him?

[CRG]

BigJoe, It's not that Conservative positions are wrong, it's that Neo-Conservative positions are wrong. There are very few actual Conservatives in the federal government, whether they call themselves Republicans or Democrats, most of the government is trying to be as despicably Wilsonian as they can be.

[dg]

what's wrong with these 23%?

[miss day]

Bush is clueless, after stealing the 1st election, and bamboozling the 2nd, America is ready for anyone other than another Republican.... that is why Obama simply ran away with the nomination for President... He will be President. I believe Bush's approval rating is closer to 3 %... We (Democrats ) cannot wait until November 04 08,,,, So America can have the change we so desperately need.

[Confused]

I am really confused all of you can bad mouth his politics but no one has sighted a single issue that you KNOW the facts about the decision. I say KNOW the facts about because you are not the president so you are NOT ALLOWED to know the facts. SIMPLY AS THAT. You, me and every other person who does not hold the title president are ignorant to the job!!!!!

If you don't like an issue, how would you have done it differently. I would then suggest that you do not know all the pieces to the puzzle. You only know what the media tells you about. All of you need to quit conplaining, and back EVERY SINGLE PRESIDENT like your life depended on it.

Not a single one of you have recognized that this president has had to deal with more problems (not of his making) in his presdency that any president in the history of the USA. We have had presidents deal with war, deal with natural disaster, and deal with crumbling ecconomy. But no president beside Bush has had to deal with all at the same time. Sorry, no one else ever.

The media has made all of you misunderstand one very critical thing. All presidents know WAY WAY WAY more about these issues from all sides, than the media will ever know. Just think if the media only knows 10% of the issue (which would be impressive if they knew that much), how the story could be spun to fit any agenda.

Please think for yourselfs, don't let the media make your decisions and don't let some idiot writting a book to make money make your decisions. Think about what information a president must have to make a decision that changes the world. Any human being alive republican or democrat or alien would have made the same decisions given the same information. Don't full yourself if you think otherwise. Its easy to see flaws after the fact. Not so easy to tell the future.

[Wayland Yan]

Scott McCellan , Bush's former Press Secretary, just came out in his book and said that Bush was the one who gave Cheney's office permission to leak the undercover identity of Valerie Plame.

She was the covert CIA undercover agent who's husband Joe Wilson discredited Bush's claim about a "yellowcake" (raw material to make nuclear weapons) deal between Niger and Iraq before the invasion.

Now think about this, Bush committed an act of treason to start a war that's killed and crippled nearly a million innocent people Americans and Iraqis combined at a cost of a trillion dollars to the American taxpayer. Treason is punishable by death.

During the course of the war, the U.S. is now known as a country that approves of torture, has concentration camps and can "disappear" people. What in god's name has happened to this country?

[wayland yan]

There's one post here that's a Bush supporting rant that implores each voter to "PLEASE THINK FOR YOURSELFS". I'm sure he/she wants everyone to listen to real news like Fox and the Rush Limbaugh news hour lol : )

The President knows way, way, way more then you do, especially those ill-informed "LIBERALS" and that's why Bush didn't find any WMDs in Iraq, the Katrina relief efforts went off like a well oiled machine, why our national debt has nearly tripled from 3.8 to 11.2 trillion dollars over the course of Bush's term and our economy is on the "Brink of Financial Disaster".

The all knowing Bush and his pal John McCain even said our economy was "fundamentally sound" just a few weeks ago. Bush supporters, ask YOURSELVES this, if what Bush and McCain say is true, why would the Bush administration request a 700 billion dollar taxpayer bailout of some of Wall Streets biggest and oldest financial companies?

When one thinks of Bush and his supporters, words like misinformed, ignorant, and stupid come to mind and that's being generous. Maybe you LIBERALS out there should heed Bush and his followers, JUST THINK FOR YOURSELFS!!! Great advice, if only they would follow their own advice.

[Lumi]

@ Miss Day

LOL! Think for ourselves but we should back the president no matter what...What? Part of the greatness of living in America is how we can criticize our leaders if they so deserve it. Many have had their lives ruined during this administration and although they may blame everything soley on the president (It is not his fault alone), he is the symbol, the leader.

Don't tell me not to blame the leader of the government for the governments failure. Site sources? Where do we begin? Six years of going-nowhere-war, economic downfall, job loss hitting peak, Mortgages through the roof (I joke). You sound like a robot with your atittude of, "Don't criticize the president". A mindless stooge, and it is YOU who seem to not be able to choose for yourself! Criticizing a leader is not unpatriotic - It's American, and it's what separates us from many a foreign hell hole, where criticizm of government gets you jail time or death.

Get off your high horse.

to: "Confused"
You are way beyond confused.
"Brainwashed" would be a better user name.

[Phil]

I often wondered how someone who seems as dumb as Bush went to Harvard and Yale. There was an article in the Economist about legacy students.
Someone who graduated from an Ivey league school(George Bush Sr.) can
get his kid excepted even if he doesn't meet the schools normal standards.
George Bush Jr. was supposed to have ranked in the bottom fourth of his
high school class. At Yale he got a history degree with a "C" average.
A history degree with a "C" average is nothing special so getting into
Harvard business school must have also been a matter of his families
weath and connections.
The article in the Economist said they pass over thousands of class
valedictorians to let dimwits like Bush into these schools.
Bush was also have made the minimum passing score on the test
to get in to the Air Force pilot school. The were supposed to be a
hundred better qualified applicants that were passed over.
His father was a senator at the time. That explains that.
Our system of selecting presidents is really broke if it selects
mediocre people like Bush when there are people with real
brains and talent. People like him are ruining this country.
I was looking at a magazine in Nashville a few years ago
and there was a full page ad for a Nashville opthamolygist.
The ad had his educational background in it.
A Phd in laser physics with honors from MIT.
A degree in medicine with honors from Harvard.
There are people like this who must have 10 times the brain power
of Bush.