Bush's approval rating continues to plummet
Washington - US President George Bush's approval rating plunged to a new low of 26 percent, making him the least popular US president since Richard Nixon, a poll released on Thursday found.
The Newsweek magazine poll showed that 26 percent of Americans, just over one in four, approve of the job Bush is doing, marking his lowest level of backing since taking office in January 2001.
"In fact, the only president in the last 35 years to score lower than Bush is Richard Nixon," the report said.
"Nixon's approval rating tumbled to 23 percent in January 1974, seven months before his resignation over the botched Watergate break-in."
'Nixon's approval rating tumbled to 23 percent in January 1974'
The survey found that the public's disillusionment with Bush spread from the Iraq war to domestic issues, with 73 percent of Americans disapproving of the job Bush has done with Iraq and a record-low 23 percent in favour.Fifty percent said they disapproved of Bush's handling of homeland security and terrorism - once a strong point for his administration following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Sixty percent said they disapproved of his handling of the economy, 61 percent disapproved on health care and 63 percent disapproved on immigration.
The poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday and carries a four-point margin of error.
A separate poll released one week ago by The Wall Street Journal and NBC news showed Bush's approval rate at 29 percent. That figure was a new low for the WSJ/NBC poll, after previously diving to 34 percent in December 2006. - Sapa-AFP
Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-06-21 22:08:14
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