The Harris Poll® #39, April 9, 2008

Key Indicators of National Mood Fall to New Lows

Those Who Think the Country is moving in the Right Direction and Ratings of President Bush and Congress Now Lower Than or Equal to Previous Lows in This Century

As the drumbeat of bad economic news continues, gas prices continue their upward movement, and the War in Iraq is back on people’s radar screens with the testimony of General Petraeus on Capitol Hill, Americans are now even more disillusioned about the state of the country.

Three-quarters (75%) of Americans currently think things in the country are on the wrong track while just 15 percent say things are going in the right direction. In February, seven in ten Americans (69%) believed the country was going off on the wring track while 23 percent thought it was going in the right direction. Historically, 1992 was the lowest recorded right direction – in June of that year just 12 percent thought the country was going in the right direction.

These are some of the results from the latest Harris Poll of 1,018 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone between April 2 and 6, 2008 by Harris Interactive^®.

Feelings towards President Bush

This pessimistic attitude is not just towards the country as a whole. Just one-quarter (26%) of Americans give President Bush positive ratings on his job while just under three-quarters (72%) give him negative ratings. This is down from February when 28 percent gave him positive marks and 69 percent gave him negative ones. This current rating also ties his lowest ever positive rating which was first reached in July of 2007.

Negative Feelings Continue Towards Congress and Congressional Democrats

One consolation President Bush may have is that his numbers are slightly better than those of Congress and Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Over three-quarters (77%) of Americans give Congress negative job approval ratings while just 17 percent give them positive marks. Neither party gets high marks for the work they are doing either. Just one in five Americans (20%) gives Republicans positive ratings, while three-quarters (73%) of Americans give them negative ones. Democrats do only slightly better as just under one-quarter (23%) of American give them positive ratings for the job they are doing while seven in ten (70%) give them negative marks.

All three have seen declines since February. Also, for Congress overall this ties their lowest positive rating (reached in December of last year). The same is true for Democrats in Congress. They’ve reached a positive rating of 23 percent two other times, all recent – December of last year and May of 2006. Republicans are only very close to their lowest positive rating, which was 19 percent in October of last year.

Looking at Issues

What is one of the reasons for such negativity on the part of Americans? Well, to borrow from the 1992 Clinton campaign "It’s the economy, stupid". Almost half of Americans (47%) say the economy is one of the two most important issues for the government to address, up from 41 percent who said so in February. This is one of the highest numbers for any issue in recent time. Further back, just over one-quarter of Americans (28%) say the War is one of the two most important issues while 17 percent say it is Health care. One in ten each says Iraq and rising oil and gas prices (10% each). If those who say employment/jobs (9%), housing (5%) and taxes (4%) are taken together with those who say the economy in general and rising gas/oil prices, three-quarters (75%) of Americans cite an economic issue as on of the most important for the government to address.

So What?

Tax rebate checks intended to stimulate the economy are due to be mailed in May, but this may be too little and too late for most Americans. They are anxious about the way the country is going, they are unhappy with the job performance of their leaders in Washington – on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue – and they have a growing concern about the economy and their own personal finances (See Harris Poll #35, April 3, 2008). They want to the government to do something to aid them and, at the moment, they don’t seem to like what they are seeing. No wonder so many people feel it is time for a change.

TABLE 1

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	%	%
2008	April	26	72
	February	28	69
2007	December	32	68
	October	27	72
	September	31	67
	July	26	73
	April	28	70
	February	32	67
2006	November	31	67
	October	34	63
	September	38	61
	August	34	65
	July	34	65
	May	29	71
	April	35	63
	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
	January	79	19
2001	December	82	17
	November	86	12
	October	88	11
	August	52	43
	May	59	35
	March	49	38
	February	56	26

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

TABLE 2
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	%	%
2008	April	17	77
	February	20	76
2007	December	17	79
	October	20	77
	September	22	74
	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 3
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	%	%
2008	April	20	73
	February	22	72
2007	December	23	73
	October	19	76
	September	22	73
	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 (low)	37	51
	April (high)	52	41
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 4
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	%	%
2008	April	23	70
	February	26	70
2007	December	23	73
	October	29	67
	September	24	70
	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 5
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	%	%
2008	April	15	75
	February	23	69
2007	December	18	74
	October	22	67
	September	24	63
	July	19	70
	April	26	67
	February	29	62
2006	November	31	58
	September	31	59
	August	26	64
	May	24	69
	February	32	59
	January	33	54
2005	November	27	68
	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

TABLE 6
MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR GOVERNMENT to address

"What do you think are the two most importantissues 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	08	08
	May	Jan	Feb	Aug	Dec	Dec	June	Oct	Aug	June	Nov	Feb	Oct	Dec	Feb	Apr
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
The economy (non-specific)	8	9	7	5	32	34	25	28	19	14	12	9	13	20	41	47
(The) war	X	X	X	X	12	18	8	35	41	27	33	29	24	30	26	28
Healthcare (not Medicare)	10	11	12	15	5	10	14	18	11	12	15	12	25	24	22	17
Iraq	*	*	1	X	X	11	3	9	6	8	10	10	14	10	14	10
Gas and oil prices	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	10	8	1	1	2	7	1	10
Immigration	2	1	*	1	1	1	2	2	3	20	11	7	12	12	12	9
Employment/jobs	5	3	4	4	7	8	8	10	3	7	7	4	5	5	6	9
Education	15	14	21	25	12	11	13	7	8	7	7	7	6	9	4	5
Housing	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	*	*	1	*	2	2	3	2	5
Taxes	14	16	12	13	6	5	11	8	5	4	5	7	3	6	6	4
Social security	6	6	24	16	3	2	4	4	10	5	4	3	3	5	4	3
Foreign policy (non-specific)	3	5	4	3	2	4	2	3	2	2	2	4	4	3	2	3
National security	X	X	2	2	6	3	6	5	2	2	2	2	2	2	5	2
Budget/ Government spending	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	5	3	5	6	3	5	2
(Programs for) the poor/ poverty	3	2	2	3	1	2	3	*	4	4	3	2	4	3	4	1
Energy	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	4	4	1	2	1	3	1	2
Terrorism	X	X	X	X	22	17	11	7	7	4	3	9	4	4	3	2
Domestic/social issues (non-specific)	2	3	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	3	1	1	3	1	2	2
Homelessness	4	4	3	3	2	2	1	*	1	1	1	2	3	3	2	2
Environment	3	2	3	3	1	3	2	1	3	3	2	4	3	3	2	2
Abortion	2	2	2	6	1	1	1	4	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	2
Inflation	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	2	2	2	3	1	*	2
Military/defense	2	2	2	4	4	1	5	3	1	4	3	3	2	3	2	2
Crime/violence	19	13	8	10	1	2	3	1	3	2	2	2	2	4	1	1
Homeland/ domestic security/public safety	X	X	X	X	8	9	3	6	2	2	2	3	2	3	2	1
Same sex rights	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	1	1	2	*	1	*	*	*	1
Human/civil/ women's rights	2	1	*	1	1	1	*	1	1	1	1	2	2	*	*	1
Welfare	14	8	4	2	1	1	3	*	3	1	1	1	2	2	1	1
Religion (decline of)	*	1	*	1	2	1	1	1	*	1	1	2	1	1	1	1
Honesty/Integrity/ Moral Values	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	2	1	*	1	1	1	1	1
Judicial/ Legal Issues	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	*	2	1	1	1	1	*	1	1
Family values (decline of)	2	1	2	1	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	*	1
Drugs	8	6	2	5	2	3	3	*	2	1	1	3	3	1	1	1
Medicare	4	5	5	6	1	1	4	3	2	1	3	1	3	1	1	1
Ethics in government	*	*	*	*	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	*	1	1	1	1
Downsizing government	X	X	X	1	*	X	X	1	*	1	*	1	1	1	1	*
Second Amendment (right to bear arms)	X	*	*	*	*	X	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	1	1	*
Peace/world peace/nuclear arms	1	3	3	1	2	2	3	*	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	*
Programs for the elderly (not Medicare/Social Security)	1	1	1	2	1	1	3	*	*	*	1	1	1	*	1	*
AIDS	*	1	X	*	*	*	2	X	*	*	*	2	1	*	*	*
Race Relations	X	2	*	1	1	*	*	X	*	*	*	*	1	1	*	*
Bush/president	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	*	1	*	*	*
Medical research	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	2	1	*	1	1	2	1	*	*
Middle East peace process between Palestinians and Israel	X	X	X	X	2	2	2	*	1	*	1	*	*	1	*	*
School safety	X	X	X	X	X	X	2	*	1	1	*	*	1	*	*	*
Other¹	8	19	2	19	3	8	8	8	1	6	8	6	5	4	4	4
Not sure/refused/no issue	9	12	16	18	11	10	12	9	8	6	9	9	8	4	3	2

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

^{1 Including government/politics (nonspecific), disaster/Hurricane
relief, Foreign Aid, trade, disability, promoting democracy, election/voter
reform, Supreme Court, youth and FEMA

Methodology

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone
within the United States between April 2 and 6, 2008 among a nationwide cross
section of 1,018 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 sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use
probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most
often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage
error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording
and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore,
Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are
misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors
with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100%
response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close
to this ideal.

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

J33593
QA1, QA2, QA3}

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