Bush’s Approval Rating Hits New Low
It hasn’t really. It’s just a case of shoddy polling practices. What’s surprising about this one, though, is that the polling was the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. Here’s why I consider this poll useless:
4. Do you think the Republicans in Congress or the Democrats in Congress would do a better job of dealing with each of the following issues and problems?
B. Terrorism
Republicans 45%
Democrats 41%
But then this result contradicts that finding:
11. Do you think George W. Bush does – or does not – have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq?
Yes, does 32%
No, does not 67%
No opinion 2%12. Do you think the Democrats in Congress do – or do not – have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq?
Yes, does: 25%
No, does not 68%
No opinion 7%
How can Democrats trail Republicans by only 4 points if the question is who’s more likely to do a good job on terror but then Democrats get drilled by nearly 3-to-1 when the question is whether Democrats have a clear plan for Iraq? It doesn’t seem credible to think that these numbers are right unless something else is afoot. Which there is.
The tipoffs were that (a) the polling took place this past Friday-Sunday and (b) they sampled adults, not likely voters. Those two things alone are enough to tip the scales quite a bit just by themselves.
This is disappointing coming from Gallup. Thyese are the types of mistakes I’d only expect of AP/Ipsos or the CBS polls.
Cross-post at LetFreedomRing
March 13th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
Hmm. I don’t really see the discrepancy. It seems like those polled don’t have a lot of trust in either Democrats or Bush, which seems understandable - and might view terrorism in general as different than just the situation in Iraq alone.
March 13th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
What do you guys think of the last minute resignation of Rep. Elton Gallegly? By giving no time for others to file for the primary, he is giving away this district to the Democrats. Given the advantage incumbents have, who knows how many years it will be before this congressional district flips back to the Republicans?
The GOP in California loses mostly due to incompetence. The voters consistently go along with conservatives when an articulate sensible message is given to them. This is so frustrating.
March 13th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
Was it really so god damn difficult for *anyone* in the Republican party in California to make a phone call to Gallegly 5 days ago and explain the situation to him? Jesus freaking christ. What do these people do? What restaurants do you spend my donations at?
March 14th, 2006 at 10:48 am
How Many New Lows Can the President Reach?
I find 13 years of incessant polling by the dems to be entertaining to say the least. It seems to me that they are out there trolling for a message in lieu of having one! I guess that alternative is better than what the Democrat leadership has to offer…
November 16th, 2007 at 8:11 am
I have to agree with Ben. Those number show that public thinks both congressional Democrats and President Bush have no clear plan. But when compared to one another Republicans suck just slightly less.
Another thing that I think is reflected is that to many those are two completely different questions. The Democrats and their allies in the media have been successful in their de-coupling of the Iraq war and the war on terror in many peoples’ minds.