Two new polls show Americans give President George W. Bush poor marks for his handling of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, with one survey showing that Bush is now losing support even among his Republican base.
Funny, Americans just don't like people who kill people and then stay on vacation.
Both polls contain additional bad news for Bush. A poll by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press gives him an overall job approval rating of 40 percent -- down 10 percent since January -- and a disapproval rating of 52 percent, among the highest of his presidency....
``Uncharacteristically, the president's ratings have slipped most among his core constituents -- Republicans and conservatives,'' Pew director Andy Kohut wrote in an e-mail.
In the Pew survey, 67 percent of 1,000 adults interviewed by telephone Sept. 6-7 said Bush could have done more to speed up relief efforts; 28 percent said he did everything possible....
The Pew survey shows Bush's support among Republicans is strong but slipping, and since his support among Democrats and self-described independents remains consistent, Bush's declining approval is linked directly to that slippage within his own party.
The new poll shows Bush with a job approval rating of 79 percent among Republicans, down 9 percentage points since Pew's July survey. Among Democrats, his approval was 19 percent compared with 18 percent in July, and among independents it was 33 percent versus 32 percent, changes that in both cases are within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Support Down Within Party
Among those who identify themselves as ``conservative Republicans,'' Bush's job approval declined seven percentage points from the July survey and by 11 percentage points among those who describe themselves as ``moderate Republicans.''
Bush's overall job approval rating in July was 44 percent.
