Bush Approval Rating Slips, 2 Polls Find

Americans are beginning to have more reservations about President Bush’s handling of his job, according to two separate polls released today.

A survey by Times Mirror found that overall support for the President has dipped to 49%, the lowest point in his presidency.

A separate poll by the Los Angeles Times found the President’s approval rating at 61%, but more people were equivocal in their support than earlier. Only 23% approved “strongly” of Bush’s job performance, while 38% approved only “somewhat.”

In August, shortly after the President announced he was sending troops to the Persian Gulf, that was reversed, with 41% of Americans “strongly” supporting Bush while 34% said they “somewhat” approved.

The difference between the two polls is largely one of survey methodology, polling professionals said. The Times Poll prods interviewees for a response while the other poll, conducted by the Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press, does not. As a result, the Times Mirror survey has a higher percentage of people who have no opinion about Bush--21% vs. only 5% in The Times Poll.

Both of today’s surveys found that about a third of Americans disapprove of the President’s performance, 30% in the Times Mirror survey and 34% in The Times Poll.

That is almost twice as many Americans who disapprove as compared with those who did in August or indeed for most of this year.

“I think what is significant is that people are becoming more equivocal about the President,” said Andrew Kohut, director of surveys for Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press.

Most other public surveys also show Bush’s support down since late August, with support ranging from 58% in a Gallup Poll after the Nov. 6 elections to 52% in a New York Times/CBS Poll just before the elections.

The Times Mirror Poll interviewed 1,208 adults between Nov. 8-11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. The Times Poll interviewed 1,031 on Nov. 14 and also has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

By any poll, Bush has lost whatever boost in support he won for his early handling of the Persian Gulf crisis. That may be significant as he tries to manage what Karlyn H. Keene, editor of American Enterprise magazine, called the second and more critical phase of the conflict.

After the crisis began, three-quarters of Americans approved of Bush’s performance in building an international coalition to send troops to Saudi Arabia, according to most surveys. Bush’s overall support had been gradually sliding to about 60% before the crisis.

His popularity began to dwindle again in September as Congress and the White House began having problems agreeing on a budget.

Several polls, including those by Gallup and ABC, have seen Bush regain small amounts of his support since the budget controversy was resolved.

In other findings in the Times Mirror survey:

The public was more positive about political commercials in the recent election than in 1988. More Americans felt the commercials provided useful information than before, and pluralities of blacks and adults under 30 actually thought commercials were better sources of information than news reports.

Only 25% of Americans were very satisfied with the outcome of the elections, while 48% were only somewhat satisfied. Twenty-two percent were dissatisfied.

Of those who admitted to not voting, only a third said they wished they had participated.