WASHINGTON - A soured public has given President Bush
and Congress record low approval ratings in the latest Associated Press-Ipsos
poll, underscoring the toll taken by fretful economic woes and long-lasting
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The survey, released Tuesday, also set a new AP-Ipsos floor
for the number of people saying the country is heading in the right direction.
Just 16 percent said the country is moving the right way, a virtual tie with
the 17 percent who said so last month. In addition, 28 percent said they approve of the job Bush is
doing, tying his low in the AP-Ipsos survey set last April. Congress fared even worse: A new AP-Ipsos low of 18 percent
said they were happy with Congress' work, down a steep 5 percentage points from
last month. Underscoring the breadth of the gloom, dissatisfaction with
the country's direction stretched across party and ideological lines. Only
three in 10 Republicans and fewer than one in 10 Democrats and independents
said the country is heading the right way. Only one in five conservatives and
even fewer moderates and liberals said they are happy with things. Just 63 percent of Republicans and 46 percent of
conservatives approved of Bush's handling of his job, strikingly low numbers.
About one in five Republicans and conservatives voiced strong approval for the
president, while one in 10 Republicans and three in 10 conservatives said they
strongly disapproved. Four percent of Democrats and 12 percent of independents
gave Bush positive grades — the lowest he's ever gotten from those groups in
the AP-Ipsos survey. The numbers were similarly low for liberals and moderates. With soaring fuel prices, ailing financial and housing
markets and rising inflation, Bush got his lowest grade for handling the economy.
Just 24 percent approved of how he's dealing with it, tying last month's
AP-Ipsos low on that issue. Only half of Republicans gave Bush good grades on the
economy, as did hardly any Democrats or independents. Disapproval was nearly
evenly distributed across all levels of income — only a quarter of those from
households earning at least $100,000 a year were satisfied with his work on the
economy, with similar readings coming from those making less. About three in 10 voiced approval for how he's handling Iraq, domestic issues
and foreign affairs. All are near or tied with previous lows in the survey. Approval of the Democratic-led Congress was dismal — about
one in five Democrats and Republicans expressed satisfaction. In interviews,
many Democrats have expressed dissatisfaction that Congress is not doing
enough, while many Republicans are unhappy with its Democratic leadership. The AP-Ipsos poll began in December 2003. The record low
presidential approval in the Gallup Poll came in 1952, when President Truman hit
22 percent. Since Gallup began asking about approval of Congress in 1974, the
all-time low has been 18 percent, reached several times, most recently in May. The AP-Ipsos poll was conducted from July 10-14 and involved
telephone interviews with 1,000 adults. It had a margin of sampling error of
plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The margin of sampling error for subgroups
was larger. AP Director of Surveys Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey
Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report. On the Net: AP-Ipsos poll results: http://www.ap-ipsosresults.com.