6 October 2005cbsnews
This CBS News Poll finds an American public increasingly pessimistic about the economy, the war in Iraq, the overall direction of the country, and the president. Americans' outlook for the economy is the worst it has been in four years. Most expect the price of gas to rise even further in the next few months. A growing number of Americans want U.S. troops to leave Iraq as soon as possible, rather than stay the course, and the highest percentage ever thinks the United States should have stayed out of Iraq. When given a set of options for paying for rebuilding the hurricane-racked Gulf Coast, only one — taking money from the Iraq War — gets majority support. President Bush's overall job approval rating has reached the lowest ever measured in this poll, and evaluations of his handling of Iraq, the economy and even his signature issue, terrorism, are also at all-time lows. More Americans than at any time since he took office think he does not share their priorities. The public's concerns affect their view of the state of the country. Sixty-nine percent of Americans say things in the United States are pretty seriously off on the wrong track — the highest number since CBS News started asking the question in 1983. Today, just 26 percent say things are going in the right direction. DIRECTION OF THE COUNTRYRight direction Now 
26% 9/2005 31% 5/2004 30% 3/2003 52% 11/1994 30% Wrong track Now 69% 9/2005 63% 5/2004 65% 3/2003 41% 11/1994 65% Majorities of the public have consistently said the U.S. is off on the wrong track since January 2004. In May 2004, shortly after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal came to light, 65 percent were negative. In November 1994, just as Republicans took control of both houses of Congress for the first time in decades, 6 percent of Americans said the country was off on the wrong track. PRESIDENT BUSH President Bush's job approval rating has fallen to his lowest rating ever. 37 percent now approve of the job he is doing as president, while 58 percent disapprove. Those in his own party are still overwhelmingly positive about his performance (nearly 80 percent approve), but the president receives little support from either Democrats or Independents. And while views of President Bush have lately not changed much among Republicans or Democrats, his approval rating among Independents has dropped 11 points since just last month, from 40 percent to 29 percent now. PRESIDENT BUSH'S JOB APPROVALApprove All 37% Reps. 79% Dems. 14% Inds. 29% Disapprove All 58% Reps. 13% Dems. 84% Inds. 64% President Bush also receives his lowest ratings ever on his handling of the economy and Iraq, with only a third approving of either. Here as well, there has been a drop in approval among Independents since last month in both of those areas, although his ratings among Independents were low last month as well. PRES. BUSH JOB APPROVALSOverall Now 37% 9/2005 41% 8/2005 41% Terrorism Now 46% 9/2005 50% 8/2005 54% Iraq Now 32% 9/2005 36% 8/2005 38% Economy Now 32% 9/2005 35% 8/2005 37% Hurricane Katrina Now 45% 9/2005 44% 8/2005 54% Recent hurricanes Now 46% 9/2005 n/a 8/2005 n/a And for the first time in this poll, fewer than half the public approves of the way he is handling the campaign against terrorism. 46 percent now approve, but 46 percent disapprove. Approval of Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina is about the same as last month, and now stands at 45 percent. Overall evaluation of how he has managed all the recent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast is 46 percent. Since earlier this year, the President has been viewed as out of touch with Americans. Only 32 percent now think he shares their priorities for the country, while twice as many think he does not. At earlier points in his presidency, more Americans felt he shared their goals. DOES PRES. BUSH SHARE YOUR PRIORITIES FOR THE COUNTRY?Yes Now 32% 5/2005 34% 4/2003 48% 1/2002 59% No Now 65% 5/2005 61% 4/2003 46% 1/2002 32% On this question too, the President maintains the support of Republicans (69 percent of them feel he shares their priorities), but finds little among either Democrats or Independents. President Bush receives less credit for empathy than he has in previous polls. 52 percent of Americans think he cares about people like them at least somewhat, the lowest figure ever. There are continued questions about his leadership abilities: 52 percent now say they have a lot or some confidence in the President's ability to handle a crisis, and 45 percent see him as a strong leader, down significantly from views at previous points in his presidency, and the lowest number ever in this poll. DOES PRESIDENT BUSH HAVE STRONG QUALITIES OF LEADERSHIP?Yes Now 45% 9/2005 53% 9/2004* 64% 9/2001 83% No Now 52% 9/2005 45% 9/2004* 34% 9/2001 14% *among registered voters A sizable number of Americans express skepticism about whether President Bush has chosen qualified people for positions in his administration. 52 percent have at least some confidence in his choices, but almost as many, 47 percent, have little or no confidence. CONFIDENCE IN BUSH'S ADMINISTRATION APPOINTEES?A lot All 22% Reps. 50% Dems. 6% Inds. 17% Some All 30% Reps. 37% Dems. 27% Inds. 28% A little/none All 47% Reps. 13% Dems. 66% Inds. 53% Half of Republicans express a lot of confidence in President Bush's choices, while most Democrats and Independents have little or no confidence. THE ECONOMY AND PERSONAL FINANCES The public continues to hold negative views of the nation's economy; and the percentage saying the condition of the economy is good is the lowest since September 2003, more than two years ago. Now, 43 percent say the economy is in good shape, and 55 percent say it is fairly or very bad. VIEWS OF THE ECONOMYGood Now 43% 9/2005 49% 10/2004 55% 9/2003 43% Bad Now 55% 9/2005 50% 10/2004 45% 9/2003 56% In addition, the outlook for the economy is even more pessimistic than it was last month. More than half — 54 percent — think the economy is getting worse — the highest figure since September 2001, just after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Only one in ten says the economy is getting better. ECONOMY IS GETTING:Better Now 10% 9/2005 13% 1/2005 25% 9/2001 8% Worse Now 54% 9/2005 47% 1/2005 29% 9/2001 55% Same Now 34% 9/2005 38% 1/2005 45% 9/2001 35% Even Americans' evaluations of their own financial situation are not very positive. Few say they are better off than they were a year ago. One in three says their family's financial situation is worse today, and half say it is about the same. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say their financial situation is worse today than it was a year ago. Looking ahead, the public is a little more hopeful as to what the future holds. 30 percent think their family's financial situation will be better a year from now, and 42 percent think it will not change much. 23 percent think their financial situation may be worse a year from now. FAMILY'S FINANCIAL SITUATIONCompared to a year ago Better 18% Worse 32% Same 50% A year from now Better 30% Worse 23% Same 42% The economy remains one of the most important issues Americans want the government to address, outranked only by the war with Iraq. These two issues are followed by gas and oil prices, specific critical mentions of George W. Bush, and terrorism. U.S. MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEMWar in Iraq Now 18% 9/2005 13% Economy and jobs Now 16% 9/2005 14% Gas/oil crisis Now 5% 9/2005 9% President Bush Now 5% 9/2005 5% Terrorism Now 4% 9/2005 6% GAS AND OIL PRICES Recently, President Bush asked Americans to conserve gasoline by driving less and car-pooling. Despite his announcement, the public is skeptical. 50 percent say President Bush thinks the government's priority is not encouraging conservation but increasing the production of petroleum, coal and natural gas. 36 percent think his view of the government's priority is encouraging conservation. GOVERNMENT PRIORITIES FOR ENERGYIncrease production Bush's view 50% Your view 37% Encourage conservation Bush's view 36% Your view 49% Americans' own views on this issue are slightly different. 49 percent think the priority for the government should be to encourage people to conserve energy, while 37 percent think the priority should be to increase the production of petroleum, coal and natural gas. In fact, 64 percent of Americans say they have cut down on the amount of driving they do because of the price of gasoline. Most Americans don't see any relief in sight when it comes to high gas prices. 61 percent expect the price of gas will go up over the next few months. IN NEXT FEW MONTHS, EXPECT PRICE OF GAS TO: Go up 61% Stay the same 21% Go down 15% American oil companies get the most blame for rising gas and oil prices, with 44 percent placing a lot of blame on them. Another 35 percent say oil companies share some of the blame. But many also blame the Iraq war and the hurricanes that recently hit the Gulf Coast region. A quarter places a lot of blame on the war in Iraq, and an additional four in 10 blame the war some. 27 percent place a lot of blame on the recent hurricanes, and another 50% say the hurricanes share some of the blame. BLAME FOR RISING GAS AND OIL PRICES?American oil companies A lot 44% Some 35% Not much/none 19% War in Iraq A lot 24% Some 41% Not much/none 33% Hurricanes A lot 27% Some 50% Not much/none 20% HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA In addition to perceptions of a worsening economy and higher gas prices, Americans now face the costs of paying for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. When given several possibilities for that, a majority accepts only one option — reducing spending on the war in Iraq. Other proposals, some even now being seriously discussed in Congress, get much less support. 62 percent of Americans say that reducing spending on the war in Iraq would be an acceptable way of paying for recovery and rebuilding on the Gulf Coast. Fewer than half would accept cutbacks in the highway program, and only a third would be willing to increase the federal budget deficit or raise taxes. Even fewer would favor postponing the new Medicare prescription benefits. ACCEPTABLE WAYS OF PAYING FOR HURRICANE REBUILDING Cut spending in Iraq 62% Reduce highway spending 46% Increase budget deficit 35% Raise taxes 31% Postpone Medicare drug benefits 28% Three in four Democrats and 68 percent of Independents want to cut spending in Iraq, but only a third of Republicans do. Last month, in the immediate wake of Hurricane Katrina,CBS News and The New York Times asked Americans a different question — whether or not they would personally be willing to pay more in taxes for hurricane relief. A majority then said they would. The Gulf Coast hurricanes continue to take a toll on confidence in the government's ability to protect Americans from terrorism, although there has been some improvement since September. In August, 72 percent of Americans had confidence in the government's ability to protect the country from terrorism. That dropped to 59 percent in September, and stands at 63 percent today. 37 percent still have little or no confidence. CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT'S ABILITY TO PROTECT FROM TERRORISMGreat deal Now 16% 9/2005 19% 8/2005 18% Fair amount Now 47% 9/2005 40% 8/2005 54% Not very much Now 30% 9/2005 30% 8/2005 21% None Now 7% 9/2005 10% 8/2005 5% Similar percentages express confidence (or lack of it) in the government's ability to deal with natural disasters. Although it now seems that dealing with the recovery from Katrina and Rita may involve large government programs, there is little public enthusiasm for increased government activity. Just 38 percent now say that government should do more to solve national problems, little different from what has been the case for years. Hurricane Katrina affected more Americans than just those in the hurricane zones. 27 percent say they personally have a close friend or relative affected by the storm. That figure is even higher in the South, where more than a third knows someone affected. One thing that has changed is that Americans are more optimistic about the rebuilding of New Orleans than they were last month. One in four now expects that the city will be back as a working city in the next year or two, up from 17 percent last month. IRAQ More than half of Americans — 55 percent — think the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq (the highest figure to date), while 41 percent think taking military action there was the right thing to do, and a growing number of Americans want U.S. troops out of Iraq as soon as possible. Now, 59 percent want U.S. troops to leave, up from 52 percent last month and 40 percent earlier this year. Only 36 percent think troops should stay as long in Iraq as long it takes for that country to become stable. U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ SHOULD…Stay as long as it takes Now 36% 9/2005 42% 2/2005 55% 6/2004 54% Leave as soon as possible Now 59% 9/2005 52% 2/2005 40% 6/2004 40% CONGRESS AND TOM DELAY 31 percent of Americans now approve of the job Congress is doing, and 57 percent disapprove. Approval of Congress has never been high, but since March it has been especially low, at about a third. And while most Americans view neither the Democrats nor the Republicans positively, Democrats fare slightly better. Republicans receive more criticism than Democrats when it comes to their ethics. Although a majority of Americans think members of both parties share the honesty and integrity of most people, 37 percent think the Republicans in Congress are less likely to have those qualities, compared to 28 percent who say that about the Democrats. Fewer than one in 10 Americans think members of Congress — of either party — have more honesty than Americans in general. HONESTY AND INTEGRITY COMPARED TO MOST AMERICANSDemocrats More 9% Less 28% Same 58% Republicans More 5% Less 37% Same 53% Republicans may have been hurt by the recent indictments of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Still, most Americans don't have an opinion of DeLay. 7 percent are favorable, and 21 percent are unfavorable, about the same as opinions in May. VIEWS OF TOM DELAY Favorable Now 7% 5/2005 6% Not favorable Now 21% 5/2005 18% Undecided/Haven't heard enough Now 71% 5/2005 75% As for other Congressmen and women, 43 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the Democrats in Congress, and 46% have an unfavorable opinion of them. Views of the Republicans in Congress are a bit more negative; 37 percent have a favorable opinion, while more than half, 53 percent, have an unfavorable view. VIEWS OF THE PARTIES IN CONGRESSFavorable Democrats 43% Republicans 37% Not favorable Democrats 46% Republicans 53% Party loyalty plays a role: Democrats tend to see Democrats in Congress favorably, while Republicans see members from their party that way. Independents see both parties in a negative light, but more hold unfavorable views of Republicans than Democrats.
This poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 808 adults, interviewed by telephone October 3-5, 2005. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus four percentage points.
