Public Opinion Polls Still Question Republican Leadership

By Lee Russ

Sunday, August 27, 2006 at 06:23 PM

More poll results on terrorism, Iraq, and the leadership in general.  Overall, a very mixed bag, with Bush approval ratings somewhat on the rise, but a majority of respondents unhappy with the state of the country, and a plurality of the opinion that, to date, the terrorists are winning the "war no terror."

The bad news is that this poll shows Bush's approval ratings on the rise, up to 38% from the previous poll's 35%.  Approval of the handling of the economy was up 5 points to 38%, while the handling of Iraq actually edged up 4 points to 34%.  And opinion on which party can best handle the terrorist threat has shifted from 44% for Democrats and 33% for the Repubs, to 41% for Repubs and only 33% for the Dems.

However, 54% thought U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq has hurt America's standing in the war on terrorism (40% thought it had helped), and 51% thought the U.S. handling of the conflict between Hizbollah and Israel had caused harm (29% thought it has had a positive effect). 59% agreed that Bush doesn't have "a clear and well thought-out policy to deal with terrorism" (36% disagreed) and 49% said Bush is using the threat of terrorism for political reasons (45% disagreed).

On the state of the nation generally, the respondents remain unhappy: 66% find the country in "deep and serious trouble today" as opposed to only 30% who find the problems we face today "no worse than at any other time in recent years." A mere 5% thought things are going "very well" in the country, 47% said "fairly well," 30% said "fairly badly" and 17% "very badly."

As to how people would vote if elections for Congress were held today, 51% of registered voters said they'd pick a Democrat, while 40% said they'd vote Republican.

2. SurveyUSA:

"Who is winning the war on terror? The United States? Or the terrorists?"

++45% say the terrorists

++41% say the United States

++15% aren't sure