(12/23/08) -

Only Three-in-Ten Americans Satisfied with Bush

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – George W. Bush will leave office in the United States with low numbers, according to a review of seven recent public opinion polls. In surveys by TNS for the Washington Post and ABC News, and Opinion Dynamics for Fox News, 30 per cent of respondents approve of the U.S. president’s performance.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – George W. Bush will leave office in the United States with low numbers, according to a review of seven recent public opinion polls. In surveys by TNS for the Washington Post and ABC News, and Opinion Dynamics for Fox News, 30 per cent of respondents approve of the U.S. president’s performance.

Bush’s rating stands at 29 per cent in a study by Gallup for USA Today, 28 per cent in polls by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media for the Associated Press, and Opinion Research Corporation for CNN, 27 per cent in a survey by Hart/McInturff for the Wall Street Journal and NBC News, and 24 per cent in a study by CBS News.

Bush—a Republican—earned a second four-year term in the November 2004 presidential election. The U.S. president’s approval rating has not surpassed the 40 per cent mark in a national survey since December 2006. 

On Dec. 20 in his weekly radio address, Bush discussed the future of North American automakers, saying, "Under ordinary economic circumstances, I would say this is the price that failed companies must pay—and I would not favour intervening to prevent automakers from going out of business. But these are not ordinary circumstances. In the midst of a financial crisis and a recession, allowing the U.S. auto industry to collapse is not a responsible course of action."

Polling Data

a) Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

Source: TNS / Washington Post / ABC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,003 American adults, conducted from Dec. 11 to Dec. 14, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

b) Do you approve or disapprove of the job George W. Bush is doing as president?

Source: Opinion Dynamics / Fox News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 900 registered American voters, conducted on Dec. 9 and Dec. 10, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

c) Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

Source: Gallup / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,088 American adults, conducted from Dec. 12 to Dec. 14, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

d) Overall, please tell me whether you approve, disapprove, or neither approve nor disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president.

Source: GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media / Associated Press
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 American adults, conducted from Dec. 3 to Dec. 8, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

e) Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

Source: Opinion Research Corporation / CNN
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,096 American adults, conducted on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

f) In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job that George W. Bush is doing as president?

Source: Hart/McInturff / Wall Street Journal / NBC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,009 American adults, conducted from Dec. 5 to Dec. 8, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

g) Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

Source: CBS News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,390 American adults, conducted from Dec. 4 to Dec. 8, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.