info@harrisinteractive.com
The Harris Poll® #61, June 12, 2008
America’s Sour Mood: Ratings of Bush, Cheney, Rice and Congress Sink to Worst Levels Ever
A Record Four Out of Five Adults Now Think Country is on the Wrong Track
The latest Harris Poll finds the nation in a foul political mood. President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice all register their worst ratings ever. More people than ever also think the country is on the wrong track.
But this does not seem to help the Democrats. The Democratically-controlled Congress gets even worse ratings than the President and Vice-President, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ratings have also fallen to their lowest point.
These are some of the results from the latest Harris Poll of 1,001 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone between June 4 and 8, 2008 by Harris Interactive®.
Some key findings are:
President Bush’s latest ratings are 24 percent positive and fully 75 percent negative. Previously, his worst numbers were 26 percent positive and 72 percent negative in April of this year. His ratings are substantially worse than those of any president, except for Jimmy Carter (22%-77% in July 1980), since Harris first started measuring themin 1963.
Vice President Cheney’s ratings are even worse, 18 percent positive and 74 percent negative, compared to his previous low of 21 percent positive, 74 percent negative last July.
Secretary of State Rice’s ratings are much better than those of the President and Vice President, but also have fallen to their lowest point ever, 39 percent positive and 54 percent negative, compared to 42 percent positive and 51 percent negative last October.
Only 14 percent of the public think the things in the country are going in the right direction and fully 80 percent think they are on the wrong track. These compare to the previous worst numbers in President George W. Bush’s term, 75 percent thought things were on the wrong track in April. The highest number of people who said the country was on the wrong track was 81 percent in June of 1992 during the term of the first President Bush.
However, this dismal news for the administration has done nothing to help the Democrats. Most people seem to wish "a plague on all your houses". Congress, which of course is controlled by the Democrats, gets its worst ratings ever, only 13 percent positive and fully 83 percent negative. Its previous low point was in December of last year when it was rated 17 percent positive and 79 percent negative. And, Speaker Pelosi’s ratings have fallen to 24 percent positive, 57 percent negative compared to her previous low of 25 percent positive and 61 percent negative in February.
Clearly the economy and record gas prices are a big part of the problem. When asked, without being prompted or shown a list, which are the two most important issues for the government to address, the economy (38%) gets the most mentions, followed by the war (25%, but another 9% mention Iraq) and gas and oil prices (20%) Those mentioning gas and oil prices have jumped from only 1 percent in February and 10 percent in April to 20 percent now. The only other issue mentioned by more than 9 percent is health care (17%).
So What?
In this election year these dismal findings have, of course, a huge significance. Key questions that they raise include:
To what extent can Barack Obama and the Democrats capitalize on the unpopularity of this administration – or be damaged by the public hostility of such large majorities to both parties and to Washington?
How much will John McCain be hurt by the massive unpopularity of the current Republican administration? Can he persuade people that he is a fresh broom who will change the direction in which the country is moving?
The polls cannot answer these questions now, but they will track the successes and failures of the campaigns to address them between now and November.
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
12
26
31
22
8
39
54
President George W. Bush
5
19
24
51
1
24
75
Democrats in Congress
3
19
40
33
5
21
73
Vice President Dick Cheney
3
14
28
46
8
18
74
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
2
22
33
29
15
24
61
Republicans in Congress
1
19
33
42
5
21
75
Congress
1
12
45
38
4
13
83
*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
Nov. 2005
Mar 2006
Sept. 2006
Feb. 2007
July 2007
Feb 2008
June 2008
% % % % % % % % % % % % %
President George W. Bush
88 52 70 51 50 48 34 36 38 32 26 28 24
Vice President Dick Cheney
69 45 55 41 48 45 30 30 30 29 21 22 18
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
** ** ** ** ** 52 52 51 55 46 47 46 39
** Not Applicable. The question was not asked
TABLE 3
PRESIDENTS BEST AND WORST RATINGS
Date
Best
Worst
George W. Bush October 2001
June 2008
88%-11%
24%-75%
Bill Clinton December 2000
June 1993
69%-29%
35%-63%
George H.W. Bush March 1991
July 1992
83%-16%
29%-70%
Ronald Reagan October 1985
April 1982
71%-29%
38%-61%
Jimmy Carter April 1977
July 1980
69%-27%
22%-77%
Gerald Ford September 1974
November 1975
67%-20%
30%-67%
Richard Nixon October 1969
March, June & August 1974
62%-34%
26%-71%
Lyndon Johnson May & October 1964
March 1968
78%-22%
38%-62%
TABLE 4
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**
% %
2008
June 24 75
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 5
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**
% %
2008
June 18 74
February 22 71
2007
October 23 72
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
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
October 54 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 6
RATINGS OF SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE
Not Sure's Excluded
"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**
% %
2008
June 39 54
February 46 46
2007
October 42 51
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
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
"How would you rate the job House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isdoing – excellent, pretty good, only fair or poor?"
Base: All adults
TREND
Positive*
Negative**
% %
2008
June 24 61
February 25 57
2007
October 29 57
July 34 51
April 30 56
February 38 45
*Positive = excellent or pretty good. **Negative = only fair or poor.
TABLE 8
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**
% %
2008
June 13 83
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 9
Harris Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.
Latest polls = USA going on the wrong way.
Linear Mode
