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May 13, 2005
Bush Approval Numbers Still Down
By Mark Schulman
Almost four months into his second term, President George W. Bush's approval rating remains mired at 46%, with 47% disapproving of his performance, according to this week's national Time Poll. This is unchanged since late March, when Bush's second-term job rating slipped below 50%.
Weighing down Bush's job ratings are lopsidedly negative scores on his handling of Social Security (31% approve - 59% disapprove), the economy (38% approve - 56% disapprove), and the situation in Iraq (41% approve - 55% disapprove). Bush's approval scores on the economy are down 4 points since late March.
Buoying the President, his job ratings remain solid on his handling the war on terrorism (53% approve - 42% disapprove) and on his emphasis on moral values and religion (58% approve - 33% disapprove), largely unchanged in the past few months. The political flap over removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube did not dampen the President's positive bulge on moral values and religion.
Slippage Among Elderly, Women, and Independents
Central to Bush's November victory, according to the exit polls, was Bush's edge among older voters, his narrowing of the traditional Republican gender gap with female voters, and by evenly splitting the independent vote with Kerry. With Bush now barnstorming to promote his plans to revamp Social Security and with the shift away from terrorism as a dominant issue, older voters, women and independents have turned negative on Bush.
- Among Americans age 65 and over, 55% now disapprove of the President's performance, with only 36% approving. Just before the November election, 51% of older registered voters approved of Bush. Greasing the skid, older Americans give Bush a very negative 25% approval - 65% disapproval on Social Security. Older voters divide evenly on Bush's handling of terrorism (46% approve - 44% disapprove).
- Only 42% of women now approve of Bush, down from 51% just before the election. Males still approve of Bush's performance, 51% - 45%, down from 56% - 42% among registered voters in October. Women overwhelmingly disapprove of Bush's handling of Social Security by 34 percentage points, 27% approve - 61% disapprove. Women split almost evenly on Bush's handling of terrorism (48% approve - 47% disapprove).
- Independents now disapprove of Bush by 13 points, 41% approve - 54% disapprove. Almost 3 in 5 independents give Bush negative scores on Social Security (59% disapprove), Iraq (60% disapprove), and handling the economy (60% disapprove).
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Younger people, ages 18 - 29, the target of Bush's campaign for personal accounts, disapprove of Bush's handling of the issue by a 2 to 1 margin, 28% approve - 60% disapprove.
Democrats Trusted More on Social Security
Further stiffening opposition to the president's proposed Social Security revamp, the centerpiece of the Bush second-term agenda, Americans trust Democrats more than Republicans, 46% - 36%, to protect Social Security and retirement benefits.
- Younger people are more evenly divided, with 45% trusting Democrats more and 42% trusting Republicans more.
Reject "Nuclear Option" To Eliminate Filibuster
By a 2-to-1 margin, 59% - 28%, Americans solidly reject Republican efforts in the Senate to eliminate use of the filibuster, or extended debate, to block votes on Bush's judicial nominees.
- Most Democrats (80%) and Independents (61%) reject the nuclear option. Even Republicans are divided on the nuclear option, with 49% favoring elimination of the filibuster, but 39% opposed.
Partisan Split on Judicial Power
Americans are split on the brouhaha over judicial power unleashed by the national debate over the Schiavo feeding tube removal and the threatened Democratic filibuster of some Bush court nominees. Overall, less than half of Americans, 45%, believe that the courts have about the right amount of power, while a lesser 39% believe the courts have too much power. Only 11% say the courts have too little power.
The Time Poll also finds people divided on whether the courts are too liberal (32%) in their decisions, too conservative (19%), or about right (38%).
Stem Cells: Slim Majority Favors State Funding
In 2001, President Bush restricted federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to existing stem cell lines. The cells are produced from discarded human embryos in fertility clinics. Only 20% now agree with the President's decision, while 50% favor the California initiative, which raised $3 billion for all types of stem cell research, including developing new lines of embryonic cells. Another 22% oppose all government funding at all, whether state or federal, for embryonic stem cell research.
- Over half of Americans, 53% - 37%, say other states should follow California's lead.
Methodology
This Time Magazine poll was conducted by telephone May 10-12, 2005 among a random sample of 1,011 adults, age 18 and older throughout America.
The margin of error for the entire sample is approximately +/-3 percentage points. The margin of error is higher for subgroups. Surveys are subject to other error sources as well, including sampling coverage error, recording error, and respondent error.
Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas (SRBI) Public Affairs designed the survey and conducted all interviewing. The full Time questionnaire and trend data may be found in the related links below.
Related Links
