Poll Shows Increased Doubts About Iraq War, Bush
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source: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=1896&u=/nm/20031003/us_nm/bush_poll_dc_6&printer=1
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans now believe the Iraq (news - web sites) war was not worth it, according to CBS News/New York Times poll released on Thursday which showed a sharp fall in public confidence in President Bush (news - web sites)'s ability to handle foreign and economic policy issues.
Reuters Photo
The poll found new lows for Bush's foreign policy performance, which garnered just a 44 percent approval rating. Among respondents, 50 percent lacked confidence in his ability to handle an international crisis and 53 percent said they now believed the Iraq war was not worth it.
Bush's overall job approval rating was just above 50 percent, almost back to the level before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and down sharply from his 89 percent approval rating after the attacks, the poll said.
"Landing on the carrier, declaring the conflict over, this Romanesque sort of victory parade, certainly did raise the stakes," historian James T. Smith told CBS News. "And now those expectations are falling because people are seeing that the Iraq situation is not going according to plan."
The poll found most Americans are critical of Bush's ability to handle both foreign and domestic problems, and a majority said the president does not share their priorities.
Just over a year before the Nov. 2004 election, a solid majority, 56 percent, of Americans thought the country was seriously on the wrong track, the poll found.
The nationwide telephone poll of 981 adults has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points and was taken from Sunday through Wednesday.
Fifty six percent of Americans lacked confidence in the president's economic decision-making, compared with four months ago when 54 percent voiced confidence, the poll found.
Eyeing the presidential election, voters were split 44 percent to 44 percent between Bush and an unnamed Democratic opponent. But respondents by a 50 percent to 35 percent margin believed Bush would be re-elected.
Almost two-thirds of Americans viewed Bush as a strong leader, but the majority felt his leadership was not focused on priorities that mattered to them.
1 hour, 47 minutes ago Add U.S. National - Reuters to My Yahoo!
source: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=1896&u=/nm/20031003/us_nm/bush_poll_dc_6&printer=1
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans now believe the Iraq (news - web sites) war was not worth it, according to CBS News/New York Times poll released on Thursday which showed a sharp fall in public confidence in President Bush (news - web sites)'s ability to handle foreign and economic policy issues.
Reuters Photo
The poll found new lows for Bush's foreign policy performance, which garnered just a 44 percent approval rating. Among respondents, 50 percent lacked confidence in his ability to handle an international crisis and 53 percent said they now believed the Iraq war was not worth it.
Bush's overall job approval rating was just above 50 percent, almost back to the level before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and down sharply from his 89 percent approval rating after the attacks, the poll said.
"Landing on the carrier, declaring the conflict over, this Romanesque sort of victory parade, certainly did raise the stakes," historian James T. Smith told CBS News. "And now those expectations are falling because people are seeing that the Iraq situation is not going according to plan."
The poll found most Americans are critical of Bush's ability to handle both foreign and domestic problems, and a majority said the president does not share their priorities.
Just over a year before the Nov. 2004 election, a solid majority, 56 percent, of Americans thought the country was seriously on the wrong track, the poll found.
The nationwide telephone poll of 981 adults has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points and was taken from Sunday through Wednesday.
Fifty six percent of Americans lacked confidence in the president's economic decision-making, compared with four months ago when 54 percent voiced confidence, the poll found.
Eyeing the presidential election, voters were split 44 percent to 44 percent between Bush and an unnamed Democratic opponent. But respondents by a 50 percent to 35 percent margin believed Bush would be re-elected.
Almost two-thirds of Americans viewed Bush as a strong leader, but the majority felt his leadership was not focused on priorities that mattered to them.