WASHINGTON (Jan. 22) - Americans seem sour on the state of the union in advance of President Bush's address on the subject. A poll finds most believe the country is on the wrong track -- a complete flip from five years ago.
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Two-thirds of Americans, 66 percent, think the country is on the wrong track. That's about the same as a year ago, when 65 percent thought so, the poll found.
That's a stark reversal from mid-January 2002, when 68 percent said the country was on the right track and 29 percent said it was not. Then, the nation was still coming to grips with the terrorist strikes four months earlier on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people. And, U.S. troops Bush sent to Afghanistan had toppled the Taliban government that harbored the terrorists believed responsible.
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Nearly two-thirds, 60 percent, have no confidence that the political institutions at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue can work together to solve the nation's problems. Overall, the public has grown less confident since the days after the election when nearly half, 47 percent, expressed confidence that Bush and Congress could work together.
Four in 10, or 42 percent, think the country will now be better off with Democrats controlling Congress, while 18 percent think it will be worse off. Thirty-nine percent think it won't make much difference.
Iraq remains the public's top concern, with 65 percent disapproving of Bush's handling of the situation.
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Almost one-third of the public -- 31 percent -- favor the plan, an improvement from 26 percent in a survey done almost entirely before he spoke to the country Jan. 10. Thirty-five percent now believe additional troops will help stabilize the situation in Iraq, also up from 25 percent.
Bush's overall approval rating inched upward to 36 percent, from 32 percent early in the month. Despite that low score, 53 percent of Americans say he is likable; 58 percent, decisive; and 58 percent, strong.
In the eyes of 83 percent of Americans, he also is stubborn.
Now that is an interesting number--83 percent of Americans believe that Bush is stubborn. Of course it shouldn't be surprising--Bush is The Deciderer. Once he makes up his mind, he going to do it his own way, and the rest of the country be damned! Bush's troop surge is a perfect example of his stubbornness. The American people oppose this surge, and Bush is telling the American people to go to heck. Any Pentagon general who criticized this surge plan was removed and replaced with a "yes man." We no longer have a president residing in the White House, we have a king--King George The Deciderer!
Finally, there is this interesting poll number:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the first woman in that office, scored a job approval rating of 51 percent, significantly higher than that of Congress, at 34 percent approval.
You've got to love it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scoring a higher job approval rating(at 51 percent) than President Bush's job approval ratings (at 36 percent).
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