The Harris Poll^® #71, September 15, 2006

Political Ratings of U.S. Leaders Rise Moderately Since Last Month

Only one-third of U.S. adults believe country is going in the right direction

As the summer comes to a close, President George Bush is receiving his highest job performance numbers in a few months, with about four in 10 (38%) adults having a positive view (up from 34% in August) and 61 percent holding a negative view. The view of the direction of the country has also improved, with 31 percent of U.S. adults believing the country is going in the right direction, as opposed to last month, where just one-quarter (26%) believed the same. However, fully 59 percent believe it is seriously on the wrong track.

These are some of the results from the latest Harris Poll of 1,004 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone between September 8 and 11, 2006 by Harris Interactive^®.

With only seven weeks until the November mid-term elections, Harris Interactive is now looking at voters and what they think about the Congressional elections. Among registered voters, 35 percent say they are going to vote for the Republican candidate, while 45 percent say they will vote for the Democratic candidate. The race is similar if we look at likely voters, (i.e., registered voters who say they are very or somewhat likely to vote) as 35 percent choose the Republican candidate, while 46 percent say they will vote for a Democrat. Thirty-seven percent of interested voters (i.e., registered voters who say they are very or somewhat interested in the upcoming election) say they are voting Republican while 47 percent say they are voting Democratic. Turnout will be a critical factor – especially differential turnout between Republican and Democratic voters.

Administration ratings

Vice President Dick Cheney continues to receive positive marks from only three in 10 (30%) U.S. adults while just under two-thirds (64%) view his job performance in a negative light. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice still receives the highest performance ratings among all political figures measured in the poll, as 55 percent have a positive view of her job performance, compared to 42 percent who have a negative view. This is slightly better than her ratings in June, when 52 percent had a positive view of her job performance and 43 percent had a negative view. As for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, his modest positive rating has also increased (38% now as compared to 34% in June), while his substantial negative rating has decreased slightly (60% in June to 58% now).

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ positive job numbers are up slightly from 41 percent in June to 42 percent. His negative job ratings have decreased from 41 percent in June to 38 percent.

Congressional ratings

As we get closer to the November mid-term elections, both Democrats and Republicans have seen a rise in their ratings, but they still have much work to do to repair their image in the public’s eye. Just one-quarter (24%) of U.S. adults have a positive view of the job Republicans in Congress are doing, while 29 percent have a positive view of the job Democrats are doing. Two-thirds of U.S. adults (67%) view the job Democrats are doing negatively, while 71 percent feel the same about the job the Republicans in Congress are doing. Twenty-four percent of U.S. adults have a positive view of the overall job Congress is doing (an increase from 18 percent in May), while 73 percent have a negative view (a decrease from 80 percent in May).

Much of this negativity toward the two parties in Congress is also seen in the job performance numbers of some of its leaders.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has a 25 percent positive approval rating and a 52 percent negative rating. In June, he had a positive rating of 23 percent and a negative rating of 55 percent.
Things aren’t much better for Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, as about one-quarter of adults (23%) give him a positive job approval rating, while half (52%) view his job performance negatively. This is slightly better than June, when 19 percent had a positive view of his job performance and 54 percent had a negative view.
In the House, Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert has also seen a slight increase in his approval ratings. This month his positive rating is at 27 percent, up from 24 percent in June, while his negative job rating is at 48 percent, down from 56 percent.
Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner is another political figure enjoying just a slight increase in his job performance ratings, as 24 percent of U.S. adults view his job performance positively, while 47 percent view it negatively. In June, his job ratings were 22 percent positive and 51 percent negative.

Important issues

Again this month, the war in Iraq tops the list of issues for the government to address, although that has slipped a little, as 22 percent of U.S. adults believe it is one of two most important issues to address, compared to last month when 28 percent felt this way. The economy is next at 13 percent, followed by health care and immigration, each with 12 percent. Interestingly, with the conclusion of the summer driving season and the continued drop in gas prices, only four percent now say that gas and oil prices are one of the two most important issues, compared to eight percent last month.

TABLE 1

CURRENT RATINGS OF PRESIDENT, SENIOR CABINET MEMBERS AND PARTIES IN CONGRESS

"How would you rate the job (READ ITEM) are/is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Base: All adults

		Excellent	Pretty Good	Only Fair	Poor	Not Sure	Positive*	Negative**
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice	%	19	36	26	16	3	55	42
President George W. Bush	%	12	27	22	38	1	38	61
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld	%	10	28	25	32	4	38	58
Vice President Dick Cheney	%	7	24	29	35	5	30	64
Chief Justice John Roberts	%	7	35	30	8	20	42	38
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove	%	6	23	33	21	17	29	53
House Speaker Dennis Hastert	%	4	23	33	15	25	27	48
Republicans in Congress	%	4	21	36	36	4	24	71
Congress	%	3	21	42	31	3	24	73
Democrats in Congress	%	3	26	41	26	4	29	67
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist	%	3	22	33	19	23	25	52
House Majority Leader John Boehner	%	2	22	35	11	29	24	47
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid	%	1	22	37	15	25	23	52

*Positive = excellent or pretty good

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 2
POSITIVE RATINGS: TRENDS SINCE 9/11/01: SUMMARY

Base: All adults

POSITIVE RATINGS		Soon After 9/11	Feb. 2003	April 2003	Aug. 2003	Dec. 2003	Feb. 2004	April 2004	Nov. 2004	Feb. 2005	April 2005	Aug. 2005	Nov. 2005	Mar 2006	June 2006	Sept. 2006
President George W. Bush	%	88	52	70	57	50	51	48	50	48	44	40	34	36	33	38
Vice President Dick Cheney	%	69	45	55	42	42	41	36	48	45	37	35	30	30	31	30
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice	%	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	52	54	57	52	51	52	55
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld	%	78	56	71	55	57	50	45	47	42	42	40	34	35	34	38

** N/A

TABLE 3
PRESIDENT BUSH'S OVERALL JOB RATING
Not Sure’s Excluded
"How would you rate the overall job President George W.Bush is doing as president – excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	38	61
	August (8/24)	%	34	65
	August (8/11)	%	34	66
	July	%	34	65
	June	%	33	67
	May	%	29	71
	April	%	35	63
	March	%	36	64
	February	%	40	58
	January	%	43	56
2005	November	%	34	65
	August	%	40	58
	June	%	45	55
	April	%	44	56
	February	%	48	51
2004	November	%	50	49
	October	%	51	49
	September	%	45	54
	August	%	48	51
	June	%	50	49
	April	%	48	51
	February	%	51	48
2003	December	%	50	49
	October	%	59	40
	August	%	57	41
	June	%	61	36
	April	%	70	29
	February	%	52	46
2002	December	%	64	35
	November	%	65	33
	October	%	64	35
	September	%	68	30
	August	%	63	37
	July	%	62	37
	June	%	70	28
	May	%	74	25
	April	%	75	23
	March	%	77	22
	February	%	79	20
	January	%	79	19
2001	December	%	82	17
	November	%	86	12
	October	%	88	11
	August	%	52	43
	July	%	56	39
	June	%	50	46
	May	%	59	35
	March	%	49	38
	February	%	56	26

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 4
2006 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
"If the election for Congress were being held today,would you be voting for the Republican candidate or the Democraticcandidate?"

Base: All adults

TREND		Republican	Democrat	Other+	*Undecided+**
September	%	34	45	15	6
August (8/24)	%	32	47	13	8
August (8/11)	%	30	45	18	7
July	%	31	44	17	7
April	%	37	41	15	6
January	%	34	43	14	9

*Undecided = No preference/don’t know/refused

+Volunteered response

TABLE 5
2006 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS – By Likely and InterestedVoter
"If the election for Congress were being held today,would you be voting for the Republican candidate or the Democraticcandidate?"

Base: Registered to vote

		Republican	Democrat	Other+	*Undecided+**
Registered Voter	%	35	45	14	6
Likely Voter	%	35	46	13	6
Interested Voter	%	37	47	12	4

*Undecided = No preference/don’t know/refused

+Volunteered response

Likely voters are those who are registered and say they are very or somewhatlikely to vote in the election in Nov.

Interested voters are those who are registered and say they are very orsomewhat interested in the upcoming elections for Congress

TABLE 6
RATINGS OF VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY
Not Sure's Excluded
"And how would you rate the job Vice President Cheney isdoing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	30	64
	June	%	31	65
	March	%	30	67
2005	November	%	30	65
	August	%	35	60
	June	%	38	56
	April	%	37	60
	February	%	45	52
2004	November	%	48	50
	October	%	47	51
	September	%	40	54
	August	%	40	54
	June	%	42	49
	April	%	36	52
	February	%	41	48
2003	December	%	42	47
	October	%	42	44
	August	%	42	45
	June	%	49	40
	April	%	55	36
	February	%	45	44
2002	December	%	50	37
	November	%	52	39
	October	%	54	37
	September	%	52	37
	August	%	45	43
	July	%	46	41
	June	%	55	34
	May	%	55	33
	April	%	55	31
	March	%	59	29
	February	%	57	31
	January	%	55	31
2001	October	%	69	20
	July	%	39	52

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 7
RATINGS OF SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE
Not Sure's Excluded
"And how would you rate the job Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	55	42
	June	%	52	43
	March	%	51	44
2005	November	%	52	41
	August	%	57	37
	June	%	52	41
	April	%	54	39
	February	%	52	40

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 8
RATINGS OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DONALD RUMSFELD
Not Sure’s Excluded
"And how would you rate the job Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	38	58
	June	%	34	60
	March	%	35	61
2005	November	%	34	59
	August	%	40	58
	June	%	42	53
	April	%	42	56
	February	%	42	56
2004	November	%	47	50
	October	%	46	50
	September	%	43	50
	August	%	45	49
	June	%	47	47
	April	%	45	47
	February	%	50	43
2003	December	%	57	38
	October	%	47	44
	August	%	55	36
	June	%	60	32
	April	%	71	22
	February	%	56	35
2002	December	%	59	30
	November	%	59	30
	October	%	60	30
	September	%	61	27
	August	%	60	29
	July	%	56	33
	June	%	65	24
	May	%	67	22
	April	%	70	18
	March	%	71	18
	February	%	70	17
	January	%	77	16
2001	December	%	75	14
	October	%	78	12

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 9
RATINGS OF HOUSE SPEAKER DENNIS HASTERT
Not Sure's Excluded
"And how would you rate the job House Speaker DennisHastert is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	27	48
	June	%	24	56
	March	%	26	49
2005	November	%	22	50
	August	%	26	46
	June	%	28	44
	April	%	30	50
2004	September	%	29	33
	August	%	29	33
	June	%	29	32
	April	%	25	35
	February	%	26	35
2003	December	%	24	30
	October	%	29	35
	August	%	29	36
	June	%	34	31
	April	%	41	29
	February	%	33	34
2002	December	%	26	33
	November	%	30	31
	October	%	30	29
	September	%	35	29
	August	%	29	35
	July	%	28	36
	June	%	34	31
	May	%	33	25
	April	%	32	26
	March	%	33	25
	February	%	37	25
	January	%	40	24
2001	October (high)	%	52	16
	August (low)	%	27	29
2000	August (high)	%	29	28
	July (low)	%	23	31
1999	October (low)	%	25	34
	April (high)	%	36	39

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 10
RATINGS OF SENATE MAJORITY LEADER BILL FRIST
Not Sure's Excluded
"And how would you rate the job Senate Majority LeaderBill Frist is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

		TREND				Positive*		Negative**
2006		September		%		25		52
		June		%		23		55
		March		%		21		55
2005		November		%		23		52
		August		%		28		49
		June		%		28		47
		April		%		32		51
2004		September		%		27		40
		August		%		28		38
		June		%		30		36
		April		%		26		36
	February		%		31		36
2003	December		%		27		38
	October		%		29		34
	August		%		32		35
	June		%		38		32
	April		%		39		29
	February		%		37		30

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 11
RATINGS OF SENATE MINORITY LEADER HARRY REID
Not Sure's Excluded
"And how would you rate the job Senate Minority LeaderHarry Reid is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	23	52
	June	%	19	54
	March	%	19	53
2005	August	%	24	47

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 12
RATINGS OF HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER JOHN BOEHNER
Not Sure's Excluded
"And how would you rate the job House Majority LeaderJohn Boehner is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	24	47
	June	%	22	51
	March	%	23	50

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 13
RATINGS OF SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS
Not Sure's Excluded
"And how would you rate the job U.S. Supreme Court ChiefJustice John Roberts is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair orpoor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	42	38
	June	%	41	41
	March	%	41	36

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 14
CONGRESS’ OVERALL JOB RATING
Not Sure’s Excluded
"How would you rate the overall job the Congress is doing– excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	24	73
	May	%	18	80
	February	%	25	71
	January	%	25	72

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 15
RATINGS OF REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS
Not Sure’s Excluded
"And how would you rate the job Republicans in Congressare doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	24	71
	June	%	25	72
	May	%	20	76
	March	%	27	68
2005	November	%	27	69
	August	%	32	64
	June	%	37	58
	April	%	36	61
2004	September	%	38	56
	August	%	40	54
	June	%	39	53
	April	%	35	55
	February	%	40	52
2003	December	%	37	51
	October	%	40	50
	August	%	41	51
	June	%	45	47
	April	%	52	41
	February	%	43	49
2002	December	%	47	47
	November	%	47	45
	October	%	46	45
	September	%	47	42
	August	%	41	49
	June	%	46	45
	April	%	49	39
	February	%	50	40
	January	%	58	34
2001	October (high)	%	67	24
	August (low)	%	37	52
2000	May (low)	%	33	60
	February (high)	%	38	55
1999	October (low)	%	32	58
	September (high)	%	39	55
1998	June (low)	%	31	62
	February (high)	%	44	53
1997	June (low)	%	31	67
	February (high)	%	38	58
1996	May (low)	%	29	69
	January (high)	%	33	66
1995	November (low)	%	35	63
	April (high)	%	42	56

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 16
RATINGS OF DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS
Not Sure’s Excluded
"And how would you rate the job Democrats in Congress aredoing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Positive*	Negative**
2006	September	%	29	67
	June	%	26	70
	May	%	23	72
	March	%	24	70
2005	November	%	25	70
	August	%	31	65
	June	%	33	61
	April	%	34	64
2004	September	%	34	60
	August	%	35	58
	June	%	31	59
	April	%	32	57
	February	%	33	58
2003	December	%	28	61
	October	%	34	56
	August	%	30	60
	June	%	41	51
	April	%	39	52
	February	%	38	54
2002	December	%	36	55
	November	%	40	52
	October	%	40	52
	September	%	42	49
	August	%	38	54
	June	%	45	46
	April	%	47	42
	February	%	49	41
	January	%	52	40
2001	October (high)	%	68	24
	May (low)	%	40	51
2000	September (high)	%	48	44
	June (low)	%	38	52
1999	October (low)	%	42	50
	January (high)	%	50	47
1998	September (high)	%	49	47
	June (low)	%	41	53
1997	June (low)	%	36	60
	February (high)	%	43	54
1996	May (high)	%	36	62
	January (low)	%	31	68
1995	November (high)	%	34	64
	July (low)	%	30	66
1994	December	%	28	70

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 17
RIGHT DIRECTION OR WRONG TRACK
No Opinion’s, Not Sure’s and Decline to Answer’sExcluded
"Generally speaking, would you say things in the countryare going in the right direction or have they pretty seriously gotten off on thewrong track?"

Base: All adults

	TREND		Right Direction	Wrong Track
2006	September	%	31	59
	August	%	26	64
	July	%	28	61
	June	%	28	64
	May	%	24	69
	April	%	27	65
	March	%	31	60
	February	%	32	59
	January	%	33	54
2005	November	%	27	68
	August	%	37	59
	June	%	38	55
	January	%	46	48
2004	September	%	38	57
	June	%	35	59
2003	December	%	35	57
	June	%	44	51
2002	December	%	36	57
	June	%	46	48
2001	December	%	65	32
	June	%	43	52
	January	%	46	39
2000	October	%	50	41
	June	%	40	51
	January	%	50	38
1999	June	%	37	55
	March	%	47	45
1998	December	%	43	51
	June	%	48	44
1997	December	%	39	56
	April	%	36	55
1996	December	%	38	50
	June	%	29	64
1995	December	%	26	62
	June	%	24	65
1994	December	%	29	63
	June	%	28	65

TABLE 18

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR GOVERNMENT TO ADDRESS

"What do you think are the two most important issues for the government to address?"

Spontaneous, unprompted replies

Base: All Adults

	‘96	‘97	‘98	‘99	‘00	‘01	‘02	‘03	‘04	‘05	‘06	‘06	‘06	‘06	‘06	"06	06
	April	May	Jan	Feb	Aug	Dec	Dec	June	Oct	Aug	Feb	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
(The) war	X	X	X	X	X	12	18	8	35	41	27	23	28	27	32	28	22
The economy (non-specific)	14	8	9	7	5	32	34	25	28	19	15	12	13	14	15	16	13
Healthcare (not Medicare)	16	10	11	12	15	5	10	14	18	11	20	13	8	12	8	12	12
Immigration	2	2	1	*	1	1	1	2	2	3	5	19	16	20	13	10	12
Terrorism	X	X	X	X	X	22	17	11	7	7	6	3	3	4	5	9	9
Education	14	15	14	21	25	12	11	13	7	8	8	10	5	7	8	8	7
Iraq / (Saddam Hussein)	*	*	*	1	-	-	11	3	9	6	5	7	7	8	8	7	6
Employment/jobs	9	5	3	4	4	7	8	8	10	3	5	6	5	7	6	6	6
Gas and oil prices	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	10	2	3	14	8	9	8	4
Military/defense	1	2	2	2	4	4	1	5	3	1	3	2	1	4	2	3	4
Energy	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	4	4	3	x	4	4	4	4
Taxes	11	14	16	12	13	6	5	11	8	5	6	5	5	4	4	4	4
Social security	X	6	6	24	16	3	2	4	4	10	7	5	4	5	4	2	4
Homeland/domestic security/public safety	X	X	X	X	X	8	9	3	6	2	3	3	3	2	3	4	4
(Programs for) the poor/ poverty	2	3	2	2	3	1	2	3	*	4	5	4	3	4	2	3	3
Environment	1	3	2	3	3	1	3	2	1	3	2	1	2	3	2	2	3
National security	X	X	X	2	2	6	3	6	5	2	2	2	3	2	1	3	3
Drugs	4	8	6	2	5	2	3	3	*	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	3
Crime/violence	16	19	13	8	10	1	2	3	1	3	1	3	2	2	2	3	2
Budget/Government spending	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	3	5	2	2	2
Inflation	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	2
Peace/world peace/nuclear arms	3	1	3	3	1	2	2	3	*	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2
Medicare	3	4	5	5	6	1	1	4	3	2	5	3	2	1	2	1	2
Foreign policy (non-specific)	3	3	5	4	3	2	4	2	3	2	3	3	4	2	2	2	1
Homelessness	3	4	4	3	3	2	2	1	*	1	1	2	2	1	2	2	1
Domestic/social issues (non-specific)	4	2	3	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	*	*	1	3	2	1	1
Air Travel Safety	-	-	-	-	-	1	*	*	X	*	X	*	X	*	*	1	1
Middle East peace process between Palestinians and Israel	X	X	X	X	X	2	2	2	*	1	1	2	1	*	*	1	1
Abortion	4	2	2	2	6	1	1	1	4	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1
Ethics in government	*	*	*	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	*	1	1
School safety	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	*	1	1	*	*	1	*	1	1
Human/civil/women's rights	2	2	1	*	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1
Bush/president	x	x	x	x	X	X	x	x	X	x	1	*	1	X	*	*	1
Judicial/Legal Issues	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	*	2	1	*	*	1	1	*	1
Same sex rights	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	*	1	*	2	1	*	*
Welfare	13	14	8	4	2	1	1	3	*	3	1	2	1	1	1	X	*
Downsizing government	X	X	X	X	1	*	X	X	1	*	*	1	*	1	*	*	*
Family values (decline of)	2	2	1	2	1	*	*	1	1	1	*	*	*	1	1	1	*
Honesty/Integrity/ Moral Values	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	2	*	1	*	1	1	1	*
Religion (decline of)	*	*	1	*	1	2	1	1	1	*	*	1	2	1	1	1	*
Medical research	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	2	1	2	1	1	*	*	1	*
Election/Voter reform	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	*	1	1	*	*	*	*	1	*
Disaster relief/Hurricane Relief	x	x	x	x	X	X	x	x	X	x	1	*	*	1	1	*	*
North Korea	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	*	X
FEMA	x	x	x	x	X	X	x	x	X	x	*	*	*	*	*	1	X
CIA leak	x	x	x	x	X	X	x	x	X	x	X	1	*	*	*	X	X
Other¹	7	8	19	2	19	3	8	8	8	1	5	4	6	6	3	5	4
Not sure/refused/no issue	7	9	12	16	18	11	10	12	9	8	6	4	4	6	8	6	6

* = Less than 0.5% X = Not mentioned as specific issue

^{1 Including government/politics (nonspecific), housing, AIDS, Foreign
Aid, trade, disability, promoting democracy, race relations, campaign finance,
youth and programs for the elderly (not Medicare/Social Security)
The August column refers to the August 24^th release

Methodology

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone within the
United States between September 8 and 11, 2006 among a nationwide cross section
of 1,004 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity,
education, region, number of adults in the household, size of place (urbanicity)
and number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to
bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

All surveys are subject to several sources of error. These include: sampling
error (because only a sample of a population is interviewed); measurement error
due to question wording and/or question order, deliberately or unintentionally
inaccurate responses, nonresponse (including refusals), interviewer effects
(when live interviewers are used) and weighting.
With one exception (sampling error) the magnitude of the errors that result
cannot be estimated. There is, therefore, no way to calculate a finite
"margin of error" for any survey and the use of these words should be
avoided.
With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is
possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other
sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability
sample of 1,004 adults one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that
the overall results have a sampling error of +/-3 percentage points. However
that does not take other sources of error into account.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National
Council on Public Polls.

J28468
QA1, QA2, QA3, QA4, QA5}

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