Harris Poll: Bush Approval Drops to 26%
Harris Interactive
July 12, 2007

President George W. Bush's job performance continues to move downward as just one-quarter (26%) of U.S. adults currently view his job performance positively. This is the lowest since he took office and is tied with Richard Nixon's lowest ratings in the months before Watergate. Almost three-quarter of adults (73%) view the president's job performance in a negative light.

Vice President Dick Cheney also continues to see record low job approval – just one in five (21%) of adults view him in a positive light while three-quarters (74%) view his job performance negatively.

One in five adults (19%) currently view the country as going in the right direction while 70 percent say it is going off on the wrong track. These are the lowest numbers for right direction since 1992, when the first President Bush was losing his re-election bid. In June of that year, 12 percent of adults thought the country was going in the right direction while 81 percent said it was going off on the wrong track.

These are some of the results from the latest Harris Poll of 1,003 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone between July 6 and 9, 2007 by Harris Interactive®.

Negative Feelings Continue Towards Other Political Figures

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been the "star" of the political ratings over the past few years. While she still has the highest job approval ratings, the nation is divided about her as 47 percent give her positive marks while 47 percent view her job negatively. Women are on the top of these ratings as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has the next highest job approval ratings at 34 percent, while just over half of U.S adults (51%) view her job performance in a negative light. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates currently has three in ten (30%) of adults who view his job in a positive way while 55 percent view it negatively.

Looking at other Congressional leaders, Speaker Pelosi is not the only one who has negative ratings. Her Republican counterpart, Minority Leader John Boehner, is viewed positively by 19 percent while half of adults (49%) view his job negatively. In the Senate, one in five view both Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell positively (20% each). Half of adults (49%) view the Senate Majority Leader in a negative light while 44 percent feel the same way about Senator McConnell's job performance.

Opinions on Congress overall, as well as the two parties, are also low. Democrats in Congress are the "shining star", if you will as 31 percent view their job in a positive manner while almost two-thirds (64%) view it negatively. Republicans are viewed even worse as just one in five (21%) U.S. adults say their job performance is a positive one while three-quarters (76%) say it is negative. One-quarter of adults (24%) view the job performance of the overall institution of Congress in a positive light while 72 percent say it is negative.

Looking at Issues

Looking at the most important issue for the government to address, one-quarter (27%) cite the War, while 10 percent say Iraq. One in five (19%) say healthcare which has risen as an issue over the past few months. In February, 12 percent cited healthcare, while in April that number rose to 15 percent. Immigration as an issue is also rising, most likely due to the recent debate in the U.S. Senate. Currently, 13 percent say it is an issue for the government to address, while in April nine percent said so. While immigration has risen, it is still not at its peak; in June of last year, as one in five said it was the most important issue for the government to address.

So what?

One year from now there will be a Republican and a Democratic candidate decided and the official general election for President will be underway. The question becomes, is there space for a third party or Independent candidate as well? Right now, all signs point to the fact that the American public is extremely disenchanted with all of the major political figures as well as the parties and Congress. They also seriously think the country is going off on the wrong track. Could an outsider be the one to help convince them he or she could point the country in the right direction? Time will tell, but the last time so few people thought the country was going in the right direction, Ross Perot managed to garner 19 percent of the final presidential vote.

TABLE 1

CURRENT RATINGS OF PRESIDENT, SENIOR CABINET MEMBERS AND PARTIES IN CONGRESS

"How would you rate the job (READ ITEM) are/is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Base: All adults

Excellent Pretty Good Only Fair Poor Not Sure Positive* Negative**
% % % % % % %

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

 11 36 26 21 6 47 47

President George W. Bush

 5 21 27 46 1 26 73

Democrats in Congress

 4 27 41 23 4 31 64

Vice President Dick Cheney

 4 18 27 47 5 21 74

Republicans in Congress

 3 18 43 33 3 21 76

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

 3 31 31 20 15 34 51

Defense Secretary Robert Gates

 2 28 38 18 15 30 55

Congress

 1 23 45 28 3 24 72

House Minority Leader John Boehner

 1 18 37 12 32 19 49

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

 1 19 33 17 30 20 49

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

 1 19 31 13 36 20 44

*Positive = excellent or pretty good

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 2

POSITIVE RATINGS: TRENDS SINCE 9/11/01: SUMMARY

Base: All adults

POSITIVE RATINGS

 Soon After 9/11 Feb. 2003 April 2003 Feb. 2004 Nov. 2004 Feb. 2005 April 2005 Nov. 2005 Mar 2006 Sept. 2006 Feb. 2007 April 2007 July 2007
% % % % % % % % % % % % %

President George W. Bush

 88 52 70 51 50 48 44 34 36 38 32 28 26

Vice President Dick Cheney

 69 45 55 41 48 45 37 30 30 30 29 25 21

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

 ** ** ** ** ** 52 54 52 51 55 46 45 47

** Not Applicable. The question was not asked

TABLE 3

PRESIDENT BUSH'S OVERALL JOB RATING

Not Sure's Excluded

"How would you rate the overall job President George W.Bush is doing as president – excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 26 73
  April 28 70
February 32 67

2006

 November 31 67
  October (10/25) 34 63
October (10/13) 34 64
September 38 61
August 34 65
July 34 65
June 33 67
May 29 71
April 35 63
March 36 64
February 40 58
January 43 56

2005

 November 34 65
  August 40 58
June 45 55
April 44 56
February 48 51

2004

 November 50 49
  October 51 49
September 45 54
August 48 51
June 50 49
April 48 51
February 51 48

2003

 December 50 49
  October 59 40
August 57 41
June 61 36
April 70 29
February 52 46

2002

 December 64 35
  November 65 33
August 63 37
May 74 25
April 75 23
February 79 20
January 79 19

2001

 December 82 17
  November 86 12
October 88 11
August 52 43
June 50 46
May 59 35
March 49 38
February 56 26

*Positive = excellent or pretty good. **Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 4

RATINGS OF VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY

Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Vice President Cheney is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 21 74
  April 25 68
February 29 67

2006

 September 30 64
  June 31 65
March 30 67

2005

 November 30 65
  August 35 60
June 38 56
April 37 60
February 45 52

2004

 November 48 50
  October 47 51
August 40 54
June 42 49
April 36 52
February 41 48

2003

 December 42 47
  October 42 44
August 42 45
June 49 40
April 55 36
February 45 44

2002

 December 50 37
  November 52 39
October 54 37
September 52 37
August 45 43
April 55 31
March 59 29
February 57 31

2001

 October 69 20
  July 39 52

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 5

RATINGS OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES

Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Secretary of DefenseRobert Gates is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 30 55
  April 29 55
February 32 52

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 6

RATINGS OF SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE

Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 47 47
  April 45 50
February 46 48

2006

 September 55 42
  June 52 43
March 51 44

2005

 November 52 41
  August 57 37
June 52 41
April 54 39
February 52 40

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 7

RATINGS OF HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI

Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job House Speaker NancyPelosi is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 34 51
  April 30 56
February 38 45

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 8

RATINGS OF SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID

Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 20 49
  April 22 52
February 23 47

2006

 September 23 52
  June 19 54
March 19 53

2005

 August 24 47

***Prior to February, 2007, Sen. Reid was the Senate Minority Leader

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 9

RATINGS OF SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL

Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 20 44
  February 19 42

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 10

RATINGS OF HOUSE MINORITY LEADER JOHN BOEHNER

Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job House Minority LeaderJohn Boehner is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 19 49
  February 23 46

2006

 September*** 24 47
  June 22 51
March 23 50

***Prior to February, 2007, Rep Boehner was the House Majority Leader

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 11

CONGRESS' OVERALL JOB RATING

Not Sure's Excluded

"How would you rate the overall job the Congress is doing– excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 24 72
  April 27 69
February 33 62

2006

 September 24 73
  May 18 80
February 25 71
January 25 72

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 12

RATINGS OF REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS

Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Republicans in Congress are doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 21 76
  April 22 74
February 26 69

2006

 November 24 72
  September 24 71
June 25 72
May 20 76
March 27 68

2005

 November 27 69
  August 32 64
June 37 58
April 36 61

2004

 September 38 56
  August 40 54
June 39 53
April 35 55
February 40 52

2003

 December 37 51
  October 40 50
August 41 51
June 45 47
April 52 41
February 43 49

2002

 August (low) 41 49
  January (high) 58 34

2001

 October (high) 67 24
  August (low) 37 52

2000

 May (low) 33 60
  February (high) 38 55

1999

 October (low) 32 58
  September (high) 39 55

1998

 June (low) 31 62
  February (high) 44 53

1997

 June (low) 31 67
  February (high) 38 58

1996

 May (low) 29 69
  January (high) 33 66

1995

 November (low) 35 63
  April (high) 42 56

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 13

RATINGS OF DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS

Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Democrats in Congress are doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Positive* Negative**
% %

2007

 July 31 64
  April 35 58
February 41 52

2006

 November 36 57
  September 29 67
June 26 70
May 23 72
March 24 70

2005

 November 25 70
  August 31 65
June 33 61
April 34 64

2004

 September 34 60
  August 35 58
June 31 59
April 32 57
February 33 58

2003

 December 28 61
  October 34 56
August 30 60
June 41 51
April 39 52
February 38 54

2002

 August (low) 38 54
  January (high) 52 40

2001

 October (high) 68 24
  May (low) 40 51

2000

 September (high) 48 44
  June (low) 38 52

1999

 October (low) 42 50
  January (high) 50 47

1998

 September (high) 49 47
  June (low) 41 53

1997

 June (low) 36 60
  February (high) 43 54

1996

 May (high) 36 62
  January (low) 31 68

1995

 November (high) 34 64
  July (low) 30 66

1994

 December 28 70

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 14

RIGHT DIRECTION OR WRONG TRACK

No Opinion's, Not Sure's and Decline to Answer'sExcluded

"Generally speaking, would you say things in the country are going in the right direction or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?"

Base: All adults

  TREND Right Direction Wrong Track
% %

2007

 July 19 70
  April 26 67
February 29 62

2006

 November 31 58
  October 27 63
September 31 59
August 26 64
June 28 64
May 24 69
April 27 65
March 31 60
February 32 59
January 33 54

2005

 November 27 68
  August 37 59
June 38 55
January 46 48

2004

 September 38 57
  June 35 59

2003

 December 35 57
  June 44 51

2002

 December 36 57
  June 46 48

2001

 December 65 32
  June 43 52

2000

 October 50 41
  June 40 51

1999

 June 37 55
  March 47 45

1998

 December 43 51
  June 48 44

1997

 December 39 56
  April 36 55

1996

 December 38 50
  June 29 64

1995

 December 26 62
  June 24 65

1994

 December 29 63
  June 28 65

1993

 June 21 70
  March 39 50

1992

 October 15 78
  June 12 81
  January 20 75

1991

 December 17 75
  January 58 32

1990

 October 20 73
  February 48 43
  TREND Right Direction Wrong Track
% %

1989

 April 35 57
  January 50 41

1988

 August 49 47
  April 34 55

1987

 December 52 45
  May 36 59

1986

 December 41 57
  April 62 34

1985

 November 63 35
  September 49 49

1984

 November 71 28
  May 42 56

1983

 December 47 47
  January 33 64

1982

 July 31 65
  January 50 45

1981

 September 59 37
  February 42 51

1980

 November 32 55

TABLE 15

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR GOVERNMENT to address

"What do you think are the two most important issues for the government to address?"

Spontaneous, unprompted replies

Base: All Adults

'97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 06 07 07 07
May Jan Feb Aug Dec Dec June Oct Aug June Nov Feb April July
% % % % % % % % % % % % % %

(The) war

 X X X X 12 18 8 35 41 27 33 29 30 27

Healthcare (not Medicare)

 10 11 12 15 5 10 14 18 11 12 15 12 15 19

Immigration

 2 1 * 1 1 1 2 2 3 20 11 7 9 13

Iraq / (Saddam Hussein)

 * * 1 - - 11 3 9 6 8 10 10 13 10

The economy (non-specific)

 8 9 7 5 32 34 25 28 19 14 12 9 10 10

Education

 15 14 21 25 12 11 13 7 8 7 7 7 9 7

Terrorism

 X X X X 22 17 11 7 7 4 3 9 5 7

Foreign policy (non-specific)

 3 5 4 3 2 4 2 3 2 2 2 4 4 7

Taxes

 14 16 12 13 6 5 11 8 5 4 5 7 5 5

Gas and oil prices

 X X X X X X 1 1 10 8 1 1 3 5

Employment/jobs

 5 3 4 4 7 8 8 10 3 7 7 4 5 5

Inflation

 X X X X X X X X 1 2 2 2 1 3

Environment

 3 2 3 3 1 3 2 1 3 3 2 4 4 3

Domestic/social issues (non-specific)

 2 3 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 3 1 1 2 3

Human/civil/ women's rights

 2 1 * 1 1 1 * 1 1 1 1 2 1 3

Social security

 6 6 24 16 3 2 4 4 10 5 4 3 4 3

Drugs

 8 6 2 5 2 3 3 * 2 1 1 3 2 3

Military/defense

 2 2 2 4 4 1 5 3 1 4 3 3 3 2

Honesty/Integrity/ Moral Values

 X X X X X X X 2 2 1 * 1 * 2

Welfare

 14 8 4 2 1 1 3 * 3 1 1 1 1 2

(Programs for) the poor/ poverty

 3 2 2 3 1 2 3 * 4 4 3 2 2 2

Religion (decline of)

 * 1 * 1 2 1 1 1 * 1 1 2 2 2

Homeland/ domestic security/public safety

 X X X X 8 9 3 6 2 2 2 3 2 1

Second Amendment (right to bear arms)

 X * * * * X * * * * * * 2 1

Crime/violence

 19 13 8 10 1 2 3 1 3 2 2 2 6 1

School safety

 X X X X X X 2 * 1 1 * * 2 1

Energy

 X X X X X X 1 1 4 4 1 2 2 1

Budget/ Government spending

 X X X X X X X X X 5 3 5 2 1

Medicare

 4 5 5 6 1 1 4 3 2 1 3 1 2 1

Abortion

 2 2 2 6 1 1 1 4 2 1 1 1 2 1

Peace/world peace/nuclear arms

 1 3 3 1 2 2 3 * 1 1 1 1 1 1

Family values (decline of)

 2 1 2 1 * * 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Bush/president

 x x x X X x x X x X x * 1 1

National security

 X X 2 2 6 3 6 5 2 2 2 2 1 1

Homelessness

 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 * 1 1 1 2 1 1

Ethics in government

 * * * * 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 * 1 1

Judicial/Legal Issues

 X X X X X X X * 2 1 1 1 1 1

Middle East peace process between Palestinians and Israel

 X X X X 2 2 2 * 1 * 1 * * 1

Disaster relief/Hurricane Relief

 x x x X X x x X x 1 * 1 * 1

Same sex rights

 X X X X X X X 1 1 2 * 1 * 1

Medical research

 X X X X X X 2 2 1 * 1 1 * 1

Election/Voter reform

 X X X X X 1 1 * 1 * * 2 1 *

Downsizing government

 X X X 1 * X X 1 * 1 * 1 1 *

AIDS

 * 1 x * * * 2 x * * * 2 1 *

FEMA

 x x x X X x x X x * x * * *

Other1

 8 19 2 19 3 8 8 8 1 6 8 6 6 7

Not sure/refused/ no issue

 9 12 16 18 11 10 12 9 8 6 9 9 8 5

* = Less than 0.5%, X = Not mentioned as specific issue

1 Including government/politics (nonspecific), housing, Foreign Aid, trade, disability, promoting democracy, race relations, housing, Supreme Court, youth and programs for the elderly (not Medicare/Social Security)

Methodology

The Harris Poll® was conducted by telephone within the United States between July 6 and 9, 2007 among a nationwide cross section of 1,003 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, number of adults in the household, size of place (urbanicity) and number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

All surveys are subject to several sources of error. These include: sampling error (because only a sample of a population is interviewed); measurement error due to question wording and/or question order, deliberately or unintentionally inaccurate responses, nonresponse (including refusals), interviewer effects (when live interviewers are used) and weighting.

With one exception (sampling error) the magnitude of the errors that result cannot be estimated. There is, therefore, no way to calculate a finite "margin of error" for any survey and the use of these words should be avoided.

With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 1,001, one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/-3 percentage points. However that does not take other sources of error into account.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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QA1, QA2, QA3

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