Poll shows Bush's approval rating hits new low

People's Daily
Poll shows Bush's approval rating hits new low

The latest Newsweek poll found U.S. President George W. Bush's approval rating has hit a record low, with only 26 percent of the respondents endorsing him.

Meanwhile, a record high 65 percent disapprove of him, including nearly a third of Republicans, according to poll results released by the Newsweek website on Thursday.

Most notably, the 26 percent rating, a two-point drop from the last Newsweek poll in May, puts Bush lower than Jimmy Carter, who sunk to his nadir of 28 percent in a Gallup poll in June 1979.

In fact, the only president in the last 35 years to score lower than Bush is Richard Nixon.

Nixon's approval rating tumbled to 23 percent in January 1974, seven months before his resignation over the botched Watergate break-in.

The war in Iraq continues to be the major factor that drags Bush's rating down.

A record 73 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Bush has done handling Iraq.

Despite "the surge" of U.S. forces in Iraq, a record-low 23 percent of Americans approve of the president's actions in Iraq, down 5 points since the end of March.

Moreover, Bush scores record or near record lows on every major issue: from the economy (34 percent approve, 60 percent disapprove) to health care (28 percent approve, 61 percent disapprove) to immigration (23 percent approve, 63 percent disapprove).

Source: Xinhua