WSJ.com - Bush's Approval Remains Low, Pessimism Grows, Poll Shows

WSJ.com - Bush's Approval Remains Low, Pessimism Grows, Poll Shows: "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
April 19, 2006

President Bush's job-approval rating slipped for the third consecutive month and remains near the lowest mark of his presidency, according to a new Harris Interactive poll.

Thirty-five percent of 1,008 U.S. adults surveyed in the telephone poll think Mr. Bush is doing an 'excellent or pretty good' job as president, down from 36% in March and significantly lower than 43% in January. This compares with 63% of Americans who said Mr. Bush is doing an 'only fair or poor' job, down from 64% in March.


Furthermore, pessimism about the direction of U.S. policies appears to be growing. Only 27% of Americans believe 'things in this country are going in the right direction,' a drop from 31% in March, according to the poll.

Bad news from Iraq appears to weigh on the general public, as 23% of Americans said they consider Iraq to be one of the top two most important issues the government should address. The ongoing immigration debate also prompted 19% of Americans to consider it a top issue, a sharp gain from just 4% a month ago, followed by health care (13%), the economy (12%) and education (10%)."