(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for George W. Bush remains low in the United States, according to a review of three recent public opinion polls. In a survey by Opinion Dynamics released by Fox News, 34 per cent of respondents approve of the way the American president is handling his job, down three points since mid-September.

Bush’s rating stands at 33 per cent in a study by TNS for the Washington Post and ABC News, and 31 per cent in a poll by Ipsos-Public Affairs released by the Associated Press.

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.

In his Oct. 6 radio address, Bush explained his decision to veto a bill which sought to expand funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) by at least $35 billion U.S. over the next five years, saying, "Congress’s S-CHIP plan is an incremental step toward their goal of government-run health care for every American. Government-run health care would deprive Americans of the choice and competition that comes from the private market. It would cause huge increases in government spending. It would result in rationing, inefficiency, and long waiting lines. It would replace the doctor-patient relationship with dependency on bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. And it is the wrong direction for our country."

Polling Data

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

Source: Opinion Dynamics / Fox News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 900 registered American voters, conducted on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

b) Do you approve or disapprove of George W. Bush’s performance as president?

Source: TNS / Washington Post / ABC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,114 American adults, conducted from Sept. 27 to Sept. 30, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

c) Overall, do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

Source: Ipsos-Public Affairs / Associated Press
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,005 American adults, conducted from Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, 2007. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

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