http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051008/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_ap_poll
WASHINGTON - Evangelicals, Republican women,
Southerners and other critical groups in President
Bush's political coalition are worried about the
direction the nation is headed and disappointed with
his performance, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
That unease could be a troubling sign for a White
House already struggling to keep the Republican Party
base from slipping over Supreme Court nominee Harriet
Miers, Gulf Coast spending projects, immigration and
other issues.
"Politically, this is very serious for the president,"
said James Thurber, a political scientist at American
University. "If the base of his party has lost faith,
that could spell trouble for his policy agenda and for
the party generally."
Sentiment about the nation's direction has sunk to new
depths at a time people are anxious about Iraq,
the economy, gas prices and the management of billions
of dollars being spent for recovery from the nation's
worst natural disaster.
Only 28 percent say the country is headed in the right
direction while two-thirds, 66 percent, say it is on
the wrong track, the poll found.
"There is a growing, deep-seated discontentment and
pessimism about the direction of the country," said
Republican strategist Tony Fabrizio, who believes the
reasons for their pessimism differ for those in one
political party or another.
Among those most likely to have lost confidence about
the nation's direction over the past year are white
evangelicals, down 30 percentage points since
November, Republican women, down 28 points,
Southerners, down 26 points, and suburban men, down 20
points.
Bush's supporters are uneasy about issues such as
federal deficits, immigration and his latest
nomination for the Supreme Court. Social conservatives
are concerned about his choice of Miers, a relatively
unknown lawyer who has most recently served as White
House counsel.
"Bush is trying to get more support generally from the
American public by seeming more moderate and showing
he's a strong leader at the same time he has a
rebellion within his own party," Thurber said. "The
far right is starting to be very open about their
claim that he's not a real conservative."
The president's job approval is mired at the lowest
level of his presidency 39 percent. While four of
five Republicans say they approve of Bush's job
performance enthusiasm in that support has dipped
over the last year.
In December 2004, soon after his re-election, almost
two-thirds of Republicans strongly approved of the job
done by Bush. The AP-Ipsos survey found that just half
in his own party feel that way now.
The intensity of support for Bush's job performance
has also dropped sharply among white evangelicals,
Southerners, people from rural areas and suburban men.
"We've lost focus on where we're supposed to be going
and not able to respond to the crises that affect the
people of this country," said David Ernest, a
Republican from San Ramon, Calif., who is angry about
the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. "We're
mired in a Middle Eastern adventure and we've taken
the focus off of our own country."
Bush has tried to reassure conservatives about his
Supreme Court nominee. He's also trying to counter
critics of the war by tying U.S. efforts in Iraq to
the larger war against terrorism. And he's made
frequent trips to the areas devastated by hurricanes
Katrina and Rita to offset criticism of the
government's initial response to Katrina.
Of all the problems facing the country, the war in
Iraq is the one that troubles some Bush supporters the
most.
"I approve of what the president is doing, but it's a
mixed decision," said Richard Saulinski, a Republican
from Orland Park, Ill. "We should get out of Iraq. It
seems like there's no light at the end of the tunnel.
I just think we're dealing with a culture we don't
really understand."
The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted by Ipsos, an
international polling company, from Monday to
Wednesday and has a margin of sampling error of plus
or minus 3 percentage points.
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