Republican right
abandoning Bush
45 percent of
self-described conservatives
disapprove of
president
By AP from,
MSNBC.msn.com from the Web, May 5, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Angry
conservatives are driving the approval ratings of President Bush and the GOP-led
Congress to dismal new lows, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that underscores why
Republicans fear an Election Day massacre.
Six months out, the intensity of opposition to Bush and Congress has risen
sharply, along with the percentage of Americans who believe the nation is on the
wrong track.
The AP-Ipsos poll also suggests that Democratic voters are far more motivated
than Republicans. Elections in the middle of a president’s term
traditionally favor the party whose core supporters are the most energized.
The poll, conducted by the international polling firm Ipsos, has a margin of
sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, larger for subgroups.
This week’s survey of 1,000 adults, including 865 registered voters, found:
* Just 33 percent of the public approves of Bush’s job performance, the lowest
of his presidency. That compares with 36 percent approval in early April.
Forty-five percent of self-described conservatives now disapprove of the
president.
* Just one-fourth of the public approves of the job Congress is doing, a new low
in AP-Ipsos polling and down 5 percentage points since last month. A
whopping 65 percent of conservatives disapprove of Congress.
* A majority of Americans say they want Democrats rather than Republicans to
control Congress (51 percent to 34 percent). That’s the largest gap
recorded by AP-Ipsos since Bush took office. Even 31 percent of
conservatives want Republicans out of power.
* The souring of the nation’s mood has accelerated in the past three months,
with the percentage of people describing the nation on the wrong track rising 12
points to a new high of 73 percent. Six of 10 conservatives say America is
headed in the wrong direction.
GOP analyst cites concerns
Republican strategists said the party stands to lose control of Congress
unless the environment changes unexpectedly.
“It’s going to take some events of significance to turn this around,” GOP
pollster Whit Ayres said. “I don’t think at this point you can talk your
way back from those sorts of ratings.”
He said the party needs concrete progress in Iraq and action in Congress on
immigration, lobbying reform and tax cuts.
“Those things would give the country a sense that Washington has heard the
people and is responding in a way that will give conservatives a sense that
their concerns are being addressed,” Ayres said.
Conservative voters blame the White House and Congress for runaway government
spending, illegal immigration and lack of action on social issues such as a
constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage. Those concerns come on
top of public worries about Iraq, the economy and gasoline prices.
Candice Strong, a conservative from Cincinnati, said she backed Bush in 2004,
“but I don’t agree with the way he’s handling the war and the way he’s handling
the economy. I think he should have pulled our troops out of Iraq.”
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