Washington – President Bush’s latest political offensive, centered on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has given him and fellow Republicans a measurable boost in support a month and a half before congressional elections.
The president’s job-approval rating rose to 45 percent in a new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll, a jump of 5 percentage points since July.
The gains follow a string of high-visibility presidential speeches, visits to terrorist targets and a congressional debate designed to cast anti-war Democrats as wobbly on national security. Support also rose for Bush’s and the Republican Party’s positions on the Iraq war and the economy.
That could buoy Republican spirits, since the party has feared losing control of at least one house of Congress amid public discontent with Iraq and high gasoline prices.
While Republicans have gained momentum, Democrats retain many advantages. On the key question of which party voters favor in their congressional district, Democrats lead 49 percent to 39 percent.
The poll of 1,517 adults, 1,347 of them registered voters, was conducted Saturday through Tuesday and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
