After months of political erosion, President Bush’s approval rating improved in the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, largely tracking Americans’ more positive attitudes toward the economy.
But his presidency remains plagued by widespread doubts about his handling of the war in Iraq, with 52 percent saying the Bush administration intentionally misled the public when its officials made the case for war. A majority of Americans want the United States to set some timetable for troop withdrawal; 32 percent want the number of U.S. troops reduced; and 28 percent want a total pullout.
The survey, conducted Friday through Tuesday, showed Bush’s approval rating at 40 percent, up from 35 percent a month ago, which was the low point of his presidency. His gains primarily came among men, independents, 18- to 29-year-olds and conservatives. His approval rating was 79 percent among Republicans, 12 percent among Democrats and 34 percent among independents.
Overall, 53 percent of Americans disapprove of his job performance, down from 57 percent a month ago.
Despite his gains, Bush’s 40 percent approval rating remains among his lowest and is still substantially lower than those of Bill Clinton (who was at 58 percent) and Ronald Reagan (who was at 68 percent) at comparable points in their second terms.
The telephone poll of 1,155 adults nationwide has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
As Republican strategists have hoped, Bush seems to be getting a political lift from the economy. Bush has tried hard to highlight good economic news in recent weeks, which have seen a drop in the price of gasoline and new figures showing strong growth in the third quarter. The poll showed that 56 percent describe the national economy as good, up from 47 percent a month ago.
In another measure of national mood closely followed by political strategists, the percentage of Americans who say the country is “seriously off on the wrong track” has declined – to 60 percent, from 68 percent a month ago.
Only 33 percent of Americans said they approved of the way Congress is doing its job, while 53 percent disapproved.