Anti-incumbent sentiment predominates latest CNN-USA-Gallup polls. Two thirds of public say neither Republicans or Democrats have vision for Americans. 61 percent are angry at President Bush. Democrats have slight 7 percent lead in hypothetical Nov. 2006 matchups.
Most Americans lack faith in the ability of Democrats or Republicans to solve the nation's problems, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released Wednesday indicates.
Sixty-eight percent of people surveyed February 9-12 said Democrats had no clear plan for the country, while 67 percent said Republicans lacked one.
But many respondents said something made them upset about the direction the country was headed. Fifty-nine percent said they were angry about the way the country was moving along, while 32 percent answered they were generally content.
When asked if President Bush had done anything to make them mad, 61 percent of the people surveyed said yes.
These latest polls did have some good news for Democrats. Hypothetical Democrat vs Republican questions for the upcoming 2006 mid-term elections give democrats a 7% advantage.
With midterm elections approaching in November, 50 percent of registered voters said they would vote for a Democratic candidate, while 43 percent said Republican and 8 percent said they were undecided or would vote for another party's candidate. The question had a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Registered Democrats chose Sen. Hiliary Clinton from six potential 2008 presidential candidates with 39 percent of the vote. Republicans favor New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (33 percent) and Sen. John McCain (28 percent.)
When asked which of six potential 2008 presidential candidates they would vote for, registered Democrats picked Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York (39 percent) ahead of Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts (15 percent), former Vice President Al Gore (13 percent) and former vice presidential candidate John Edwards (12 percent).
Among Republican registered voters, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- 33 percent and 28 percent, respectively -- were the clear favorites. Sen. George Allen of Virginia trailed behind with 7 percent, followed by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee with 6 percent.
That question had a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
Meanwhile the latest Gallup poll yesterday shows President Bush's approval down to 39 percent.
Smoothed estimates put Bush at 41%
by Frank Newport and Joseph Carroll
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Feb. 9-12, puts President George W. Bush's job approval rating at 39%. This marks a slight, three-point drop in Bush's approval rating compared to Gallup's Feb. 6-9, 2006 poll, and is below the 40% range that Gallup has measured across polls conducted from early December through last week. This marks the first time Bush's job approval rating has been below 40% since November 2005, when his approval reached the lowest point of his presidency, at 37% in the middle of that month. However, the three-point decline in approval between the two recent polls is not significant given the margin of error.
Whether the current dip in Bush's approval rating represents the beginning of a sustained trend or is a one-measure drop that will not be repeated in future polls is unknown.
What are we going to do as Democrats to gain a more favorable image in the minds of voters.
With anti-incumbent sentiment like this winning back the House and Senate in 2006 and 2008 will be an uphill battle.
Does James Carville et. al. still say we will not win back the House in 2006? Because of gerrymandering we apparently need more than a 7 percent national average lead to pull this off?