The Harris Poll^® #69, July 12, 2007

Only One-Quarter of Americans Approve of President Bush’s Job Performance

Just One In Five Americans Believe Country Is Going In Right Direction

President George W. Bush’s job performance continues to move downward as just one-quarter (26%) of U.S. adults currently view his job performance positively. This is the lowest since he took office and is tied with Richard Nixon’s lowest ratings in the months before Watergate. Almost three-quarter of adults (73%) view the president’s job performance in a negative light.

Vice President Dick Cheney also continues to see record low job approval – just one in five (21%) of adults view him in a positive light while three-quarters (74%) view his job performance negatively.

One in five adults (19%) currently view the country as going in the right direction while 70 percent say it is going off on the wrong track. These are the lowest numbers for right direction since 1992, when the first President Bush was losing his re-election bid. In June of that year, 12 percent of adults thought the country was going in the right direction while 81 percent said it was going off on the wrong track.

These are some of the results from the latest Harris Poll of 1,003 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone between July 6 and 9, 2007 by Harris Interactive®.

Negative Feelings Continue Towards Other Political Figures

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been the "star" of the political ratings over the past few years. While she still has the highest job approval ratings, the nation is divided about her as 47 percent give her positive marks while 47 percent view her job negatively. Women are on the top of these ratings as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has the next highest job approval ratings at 34 percent, while just over half of U.S adults (51%) view her job performance in a negative light. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates currently has three in ten (30%) of adults who view his job in a positive way while 55 percent view it negatively.

Looking at other Congressional leaders, Speaker Pelosi is not the only one who has negative ratings. Her Republican counterpart, Minority Leader John Boehner, is viewed positively by 19 percent while half of adults (49%) view his job negatively. In the Senate, one in five view both Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell positively (20% each). Half of adults (49%) view the Senate Majority Leader in a negative light while 44 percent feel the same way about Senator McConnell’s job performance.

Opinions on Congress overall, as well as the two parties, are also low. Democrats in Congress are the "shining star", if you will as 31 percent view their job in a positive manner while almost two-thirds (64%) view it negatively. Republicans are viewed even worse as just one in five (21%) U.S. adults say their job performance is a positive one while three-quarters (76%) say it is negative. One-quarter of adults (24%) view the job performance of the overall institution of Congress in a positive light while 72 percent say it is negative.

Looking at Issues

Looking at the most important issue for the government to address, one-quarter (27%) cite the War, while 10 percent say Iraq. One in five (19%) say healthcare which has risen as an issue over the past few months. In February, 12 percent cited healthcare, while in April that number rose to 15 percent. Immigration as an issue is also rising, most likely due to the recent debate in the U.S. Senate. Currently, 13 percent say it is an issue for the government to address, while in April nine percent said so. While immigration has risen, it is still not at its peak; in June of last year, as one in five said it was the most important issue for the government to address.

So what?

One year from now there will be a Republican and a Democratic candidate decided and the official general election for President will be underway. The question becomes, is there space for a third party or Independent candidate as well? Right now, all signs point to the fact that the American public is extremely disenchanted with all of the major political figures as well as the parties and Congress. They also seriously think the country is going off on the wrong track. Could an outsider be the one to help convince them he or she could point the country in the right direction? Time will tell, but the last time so few people thought the country was going in the right direction, Ross Perot managed to garner 19 percent of the final presidential vote.

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	11	36	26	21	6	47	47
President George W. Bush	5	21	27	46	1	26	73
Democrats in Congress	4	27	41	23	4	31	64
Vice President Dick Cheney	4	18	27	47	5	21	74
Republicans in Congress	3	18	43	33	3	21	76
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi	3	31	31	20	15	34	51
Defense Secretary Robert Gates	2	28	38	18	15	30	55
Congress	1	23	45	28	3	24	72
House Minority Leader John Boehner	1	18	37	12	32	19	49
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid	1	19	33	17	30	20	49
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell	1	19	31	13	36	20	44

*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	Feb. 2004	Nov. 2004	Feb. 2005	April 2005	Nov. 2005	Mar 2006	Sept. 2006	Feb. 2007	April 2007	July 2007
POSITIVE RATINGS	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
President George W. Bush	88	52	70	51	50	48	44	34	36	38	32	28	26
Vice President Dick Cheney	69	45	55	41	48	45	37	30	30	30	29	25	21
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice	**	**	**	**	**	52	54	52	51	55	46	45	47

** Not Applicable. The question was not asked

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**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	26	73
	April	28	70
	February	32	67
2006	November	31	67
	October (10/25)	34	63
	October (10/13)	34	64
	September	38	61
	August	34	65
	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
	August	63	37
	May	74	25
	April	75	23
	February	79	20
	January	79	19
2001	December	82	17
	November	86	12
	October	88	11
	August	52	43
	June	50	46
	May	59	35
	March	49	38
	February	56	26

*Positive = excellent or pretty good. **Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 4
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**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	21	74
	April	25	68
	February	29	67
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
	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
	April	55	31
	March	59	29
	February	57	31
2001	October	69	20
	July	39	52

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 5
RATINGS OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES
Not Sure’s Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Secretary of DefenseRobert Gates is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND	Positive*	Negative**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	30	55
	April	29	55
	February	32	52

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 6
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**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	47	47
	April	45	50
	February	46	48
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 7
RATINGS OF HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI
Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job House Speaker NancyPelosi is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND	Positive*	Negative**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	34	51
	April	30	56
	February	38	45

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 8
RATINGS OF SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID
Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND	Positive*	Negative**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	20	49
	April	22	52
	February	23	47
2006	September	23	52
	June	19	54
	March	19	53
2005	August	24	47

***Prior to February, 2007, Sen. Reid was the Senate Minority Leader

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 9
RATINGS OF SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL
Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND	Positive*	Negative**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	20	44
	February	19	42

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 10
RATINGS OF HOUSE MINORITY LEADER JOHN BOEHNER
Not Sure's Excluded

"And how would you rate the job House Minority LeaderJohn Boehner is doing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"

Base: All adults

	TREND	Positive*	Negative**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	19	49
	February	23	46
2006	September***	24	47
	June	22	51
	March	23	50

***Prior to February, 2007, Rep Boehner was the House Majority Leader

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.**Negative = only fair or poor

TABLE 11
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**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	24	72
	April	27	69
	February	33	62
2006	September	24	73
	May	18	80
	February	25	71
	January	25	72

*Positive = excellent or pretty good.

**Negative = only fair or poor.

TABLE 12
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**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	21	76
	April	22	74
	February	26	69
2006	November	24	72
	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	August (low)	41	49
	January (high)	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 13
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**
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	31	64
	April	35	58
	February	41	52
2006	November	36	57
	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	August (low)	38	54
	January (high)	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 14
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
	TREND	%	%
2007	July	19	70
	April	26	67
	February	29	62
2006	November	31	58
	October	27	63
	September	31	59
	August	26	64
	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
2000	October	50	41
	June	40	51
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
1993	June	21	70
	March	39	50
1992	October	15	78
	June	12	81
	January	20	75
1991	December	17	75
	January	58	32
1990	October	20	73
	February	48	43
	TREND	Right Direction	Wrong Track
	TREND	%	%
1989	April	35	57
	January	50	41
1988	August	49	47
	April	34	55
1987	December	52	45
	May	36	59
1986	December	41	57
	April	62	34
1985	November	63	35
	September	49	49
1984	November	71	28
	May	42	56
1983	December	47	47
	January	33	64
1982	July	31	65
	January	50	45
1981	September	59	37
	February	42	51
1980	November	32	55

TABLE 15

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

	‘97	‘98	‘99	‘00	‘01	‘02	‘03	‘04	‘05	‘06	06	07	07	07
	May	Jan	Feb	Aug	Dec	Dec	June	Oct	Aug	June	Nov	Feb	April	July
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
(The) war	X	X	X	X	12	18	8	35	41	27	33	29	30	27
Healthcare (not Medicare)	10	11	12	15	5	10	14	18	11	12	15	12	15	19
Immigration	2	1	*	1	1	1	2	2	3	20	11	7	9	13
Iraq / (Saddam Hussein)	*	*	1	-	-	11	3	9	6	8	10	10	13	10
The economy (non-specific)	8	9	7	5	32	34	25	28	19	14	12	9	10	10
Education	15	14	21	25	12	11	13	7	8	7	7	7	9	7
Terrorism	X	X	X	X	22	17	11	7	7	4	3	9	5	7
Foreign policy (non-specific)	3	5	4	3	2	4	2	3	2	2	2	4	4	7
Taxes	14	16	12	13	6	5	11	8	5	4	5	7	5	5
Gas and oil prices	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	10	8	1	1	3	5
Employment/jobs	5	3	4	4	7	8	8	10	3	7	7	4	5	5
Inflation	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	2	2	2	1	3
Environment	3	2	3	3	1	3	2	1	3	3	2	4	4	3
Domestic/social issues (non-specific)	2	3	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	3	1	1	2	3
Human/civil/ women's rights	2	1	*	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	1	2	1	3
Social security	6	6	24	16	3	2	4	4	10	5	4	3	4	3
Drugs	8	6	2	5	2	3	3	*	2	1	1	3	2	3
Military/defense	2	2	2	4	4	1	5	3	1	4	3	3	3	2
Honesty/Integrity/ Moral Values	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	2	1	*	1	*	2
Welfare	14	8	4	2	1	1	3	*	3	1	1	1	1	2
(Programs for) the poor/ poverty	3	2	2	3	1	2	3	*	4	4	3	2	2	2
Religion (decline of)	*	1	*	1	2	1	1	1	*	1	1	2	2	2
Homeland/ domestic security/public safety	X	X	X	X	8	9	3	6	2	2	2	3	2	1
Second Amendment (right to bear arms)	X	*	*	*	*	X	*	*	*	*	*	*	2	1
Crime/violence	19	13	8	10	1	2	3	1	3	2	2	2	6	1
School safety	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	*	1	1	*	*	2	1
Energy	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	4	4	1	2	2	1
Budget/ Government spending	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	5	3	5	2	1
Medicare	4	5	5	6	1	1	4	3	2	1	3	1	2	1
Abortion	2	2	2	6	1	1	1	4	2	1	1	1	2	1
Peace/world peace/nuclear arms	1	3	3	1	2	2	3	*	1	1	1	1	1	1
Family values (decline of)	2	1	2	1	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Bush/president	x	x	x	X	X	x	x	X	x	X	x	*	1	1
National security	X	X	2	2	6	3	6	5	2	2	2	2	1	1
Homelessness	4	4	3	3	2	2	1	*	1	1	1	2	1	1
Ethics in government	*	*	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	*	1	1
Judicial/Legal Issues	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	*	2	1	1	1	1	1
Middle East peace process between Palestinians and Israel	X	X	X	X	2	2	2	*	1	*	1	*	*	1
Disaster relief/Hurricane Relief	x	x	x	X	X	x	x	X	x	1	*	1	*	1
Same sex rights	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	2	*	1	*	1
Medical research	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	2	1	*	1	1	*	1
Election/Voter reform	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	*	1	*	*	2	1	*
Downsizing government	X	X	X	1	*	X	X	1	*	1	*	1	1	*
AIDS	*	1	x	*	*	*	2	x	*	*	*	2	1	*
FEMA	x	x	x	X	X	x	x	X	x	*	x	*	*	*
Other¹	8	19	2	19	3	8	8	8	1	6	8	6	6	7
Not sure/refused/ no issue	9	12	16	18	11	10	12	9	8	6	9	9	8	5

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

^{1 Including government/politics (nonspecific), housing, Foreign Aid,
trade, disability, promoting democracy, race relations, housing, Supreme Court,
youth and programs for the elderly (not Medicare/Social Security)

Methodology

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone
within the United States between July 6 and 9, 2007 among a nationwide cross
section of 1,003 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 1,001, one could say with a ninety-five percent
probability that the overall results would 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.

J31728
QA1, QA2, QA3}

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