A new CBS poll is out and President Bush's approval rating is continuing to look up to see the bottom. I'm sure Republicans will have some rant about how evil the alleged "liberal media" is, or how the left is responsible for all of the president's travails. But the fact remains this: only 34% of AMERICANS approve of the job he's doing. Republicans are also fond of digging into the numbers, so LET'S!
71% Say There's A Civil War Going On In Iraq Now. President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld say, "No, there's not a civil war". 13% say No, but it will happen in the future.
41% Say Democrats are more likely to make the right decisions about the war in Iraq, vs. 35% for Republicans. This is their core issue! Why are Democrats getting the nod over Republicans?
66% of Americans think the country is on the wrong track. That's 2/3!
What's interesting about Bush's numbers is how they stack up against Clinton's at the point in their second term. Look at his numbers, as reported by CNN.Com on March 23, 1998:
President Bill Clinton's standing with the public remains high despite the fact that 69 percent of Americans say their moral standards are higher than his, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll.
Public optimism about the economy is at two-decade high
Clinton's approval rating, now at 66 percent, essentially remains at an all-time high for him, and is higher than President Ronald Reagan's at this stage of his second term.
Why is Clinton riding so high? One reason is that the public's optimism about the economy is the highest it has been in over two decades. A majority of Americans continue to say that Clinton's personal life does not matter to them as long as he does a good job of running the country.
Fifty-five percent say they are better off now than they were a year ago. That's significant because a majority have never reported being personally better off at any time since 1976, when Gallup first started asking this question.
Seventy-one percent say they will be financially better off a year from now than they are today, another historically high figure.
Most Americans do not think that Clinton is honest and trustworthy, or that he shows good judgment or shares their values. But that is more than offset by the 77 percent who say he can get things done and the 72 percent who say he is an effective manager.
Sixty-four percent say Clinton does a good job representing America to the world, an important figure for a president who is just starting his first international visit since allegations about his personal life first surfaced. Clinton is on a six-nation trip to Africa.
Remember, that at the time the numbers for Clinton came out, he was under the gun about the Kathleen Willey situation. In spite of this, America CLEARLY felt they were better under Clinton's leadership. On the other hand, America CLEARLY feels Bush has little if any leadership.