First Draft

Foxy Ponies

Chimpy sets an all-time low in job approval in the Fox News poll for the second consecutive month.

Bush Job Approval

Approve:  29%
Disapprove: 64%

It's A Perfect Pony Storm!

Chimpy, Cheney and Condi each set all-time lows in the new Harris Poll.

• 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.

Pony Up!

Chimpy sets another all-time low job approval rating, this time in the new ABC News/WaPo Poll:

McCain will be running into stiff headwinds over the next five months. Bush's approval rating hit another low in Post-ABC polling and now is 29 percent, with 68 percent saying they disapprove of the job he is doing -- 54 percent strongly. Among the dwindling number who approve of the way Bush is handling his job, 80 percent back McCain. Among the much higher number who disapprove, 26 percent support McCain.

Pony Time!

New Diageo/Hotline poll.

Bush Job Approval
Approve:  28% (all-time low)
Disapprove:  67%

Country On The Right Track/Wrong Track
Right Track:  12%
Wrong Track:  76%

Bush Favorability
Strongly Favorable:  12%
Somewhat Favorable:  19%
Somewhat Unfoavorable:  17%
Strongly Unfavorable:  49%

On The Widespread Effects Of Ponies

Oh, baby.

Republicans appear headed for another year of substantial House seat losses, if the latest survey by Democracy Corps/Greenberg Quinlan Rosner stands true. In the congressional districts that DC/GQR determined to be the 45 most competitive [pdf] Republican-controlled districts, Democratic challengers lead 50 percent to 43 percent overall.

In a similar survey taken in the same districts four months ago (other than five "hard-to-reach" districts that were added for this survey), Democrats trailed by 1 point. The current 7-point lead shows a landscape sliding in Democrats' favor.

DC/GQR polled 1,600 registered voters in 45 districts from May 19-26. Bush won these 45 districts by 12 points in 2004, and Republicans won the House races by the same margin in 2006.

Prior to polling, DC/GQR separated the 45 districts into two tiers, based on the district's likelihood to flip to Democrats. In the top tier, consisting largely of open seats, the margin for Democrats widens to 9 points, with a 51 percent to 42 percent lead. In second tier races, considered more difficult for Democrats to win, the GOP still trails by 3 points, 48 percent to 45 percent.

[snip]

One problem for Republican candidates and incumbents appears to be voters' feelings about Pres. Bush, whose job approval rating in these GOP districts is at 33 percent.

"You have to keep reminding yourself that you're looking at Republican districts; this is not a national poll," said GQR pollster Stan Greenberg. "The fact that Bush's approval rating is only 33 percent in these districts gives you a sense what these Republican incumbents and Republicans running across the country are likely to face."

Job approval for Republican incumbents, who the pollsters referred to by name based on what district they were polling, was at 38 percent. On specific issues, Democrats faired 17 points better than Republicans on handling the economy and 11 points better on the war in Iraq. On handling illegal immigration, Republicans led by 3 points.

Plural Ponies!

California Ponies

President Bush's approval rating among Californians has plummeted to an all-time low, with 25 percent saying he's done a good job, according to the latest Field Poll, released today.

Good Ole American Ponies

PRINCETON, NJ -- President George W. Bush's job approval rating in the latest USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted May 30-June 1, is at 28%, essentially where it has been for the last two months, and tied for the lowest of his administration. Bush's disapproval rating is at 68%, one point off the highest such reading in Gallup history.

[snip]

The lowest job approval rating in Gallup's history is 22%, recorded by Harry Truman in 1952. The only other president to score lower than 28% was Richard Nixon in 1973 and 1974 (although Jimmy Carter also received a 28% rating in 1979).

Dood, It Is So On!

What's this?  A pony challenge from Larry Sabato?

"[Bush] is poisoning the well for Republican congressional candidates and for John McCain," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "I think McCain's chances depend in part on whether Bush and his White House team can manage to get Bush up around 40 (percent) again," referring to the president's approval rating.

Bring it on, Sabato!

Minnesota Ponies

Unloved in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.

Minnesotans are profoundly dissatisfied with the job President Bush is doing -- and are even more disenchanted with the general trajectory of the nation.

A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll found that only a quarter of the state's residents approve of the president's job performance, the harshest assessment of his tenure. Two-thirds give his performance a thumbs-down.

At the same time, only 14 percent of Minnesotans say things in the nation are generally headed in the right direction, while 77 percent say the United States has gotten seriously off on the wrong track.

That level of dissatisfaction also is higher than at any other time during the Bush presidency.

[snip]

His current approval rating is lower than any ever registered for his father, George H.W. Bush (32 percent); Bill Clinton (46 percent) or Ronald Reagan (45 percent). The lowest presidential approval rating ever measured by the Minnesota Poll was for Richard Nixon, when he hit 20 percent several months before his August 1974 resignation.

Meet Mr. 23%

Zogby:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Growing anxiety about their economic prospects and deep unhappiness with President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress plunged Americans into a dark mood this month, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

[snip]

Bush's approval rating fell 4 percentage points to 23 percent, a record low for pollster John Zogby, and positive marks for the U.S. Congress fell 5 points to tie an all-time low at 11 percent.

The number of Americans who believe the country is on the right track fell from 23 percent to an abysmal 16 percent, another record for pessimism, as uncertainty about the economy and rising gas prices fuelled growing doubts about the future.

Pony Power

One must wonder why Republikkkans still support the man who has almost single-handedly destroyed their party.

The [Gallup] poll finds President Bush's approval rating at 29%, only a shade above his personal worst approval score of 28%, first reached in April and repeated earlier in May. However, his rating would be even lower if not for the support of most Republicans.

Current Republican approval of Bush is much lower than it was early on in his presidency; however, it remains far better than approval from Democrats. Two-thirds of Republicans (66%) approve of Bush's job performance today, compared with only 7% of Democrats.

I Always Have Time For Ponies

We switched to Vista at work three weeks ago, and it's EATING MY ASS!!!

But I still have time for the ponies.

Public disgruntlement neared a record high and President Bush slipped to his career low in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Eighty-two percent of Americans now say the country's seriously off on the wrong track, up 10 points in the last year to a point from its record high in polls since 1973. And 31 percent approve of Bush's job performance overall, while 66 percent disapprove.

Über Ponies

Holy Crap!™ Chimpy just set the record for the most hated president evah!

WASHINGTON — President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.

The previous record of 67% was reached by Harry Truman in January 1952, when the United States was enmeshed in the Korean War.

[snip]

In another record, the percentage of Americans who say the invasion of Iraq was a mistake reached a new high, 63%, in the latest poll.

Assessments of Bush's presidency are harsh. By 69%-27%, those polled say Bush's tenure in general has been a failure, not a success.

ABC Wants A Pony

High snark from ABC News.

Bush Defeats Truman

At 39 months in the doghouse, George W. Bush has surpassed Harry Truman's record as the postwar president to linger longest without majority public approval.

Bush hasn't received majority approval for his work in office in ABC News/Washington Post polls since Jan. 16, 2005 — three years and three months ago. The previous record was Truman's during his last 38 months in office.

[snip]

In the latest ABC/Post poll, just 33 percent of Americans approve of Bush's work, a point from his career-low 32 percent earlier this year. Sixty-four percent disapprove, with those who "strongly" disapprove outnumbering strong approvers by a 3-1 margin.

The president's rating has been remarkably stable — 32 or 33 percent approval in the last nine national ABC/Post polls, comprising nearly 10,000 interviews since July. Indeed, Bush hasn't exceeded 36 percent approval since November 2006.

Somebody Owes Me A Pony

Gallup:

PRINCETON, NJ -- President George W. Bush's job approval rating has dropped to 28%, the lowest of his administration. Bush's approval is lower than that of any president since World War II, with the exceptions of Jimmy Carter (who had a low point of 28% in 1979), and Richard Nixon and Harry Truman, who suffered ratings in the low- to mid-20% range in the last years of their administrations.

Pony Up!

Chimpy ties his all-time low job approval rating in the new Harris poll.

Three-quarters (75%) of Americans currently think things in the country are on the wrong track while just 15 percent say things are going in the right direction.

[snip]

Just one-quarter (26%) of Americans give President Bush positive ratings on his job while just under three-quarters (72%) give him negative ratings. This is down from February when 28 percent gave him positive marks and 69 percent have him negative ones. This current rating also ties his lowest ever positive rating which was first reached in July of 2007.

Peak Pony!

Pew:

Bush's job approval rating has slipped to 28%, the lowest of his presidency. In addition, just 22% express satisfaction with the way things are going in the country. This, too, is about as negative an evaluation of the course of the nation as measured in nearly 20 years of Pew surveys.

More Good News For Republikkkans

Pew Poll:

The balance of party identification in the American electorate now favors the Democratic Party by a decidedly larger margin than in either of the two previous presidential election cycles.

In 5,566 interviews with registered voters conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press during the first two months of 2008, 36% identify themselves as Democrats, and just 27% as Republicans.

The share of voters who call themselves Republicans has declined by six points since 2004, and represents, on an annualized basis, the lowest percentage of self-identified Republican voters in 16 years of polling by the Center.

The Democratic Party has also built a substantial edge among independent voters. Of the 37% who claim no party identification, 15% lean Democratic, 10% lean Republican, and 12% have no leaning either way.

By comparison, in 2004 about equal numbers of independents leaned toward both parties. When "leaners" are combined with partisans, however, the Democratic Party now holds a 14-point advantage among voters nationwide (51% Dem/lean-Dem to 37% Rep/lean-Rep), up from a three-point advantage four years ago.

Surge!

Chimpy's job approval rating surgesin the new ARG poll, up from his all-time low of 19%.

Increased approval among Republicans has moved George W. Bush's overall job approval to 24% according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Those disapproving of the way Bush is handling his job and the economy remain at or near record highs for American Research Group polling during Bush's tenure in office as 86% of Americans say the national economy is getting worse and 66% say the national economy is in a recession.

Among all Americans, 24% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 75% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 18% approve and 80% disapprove.

Fox Ponies!

Oh, my.

With far more Americans identifying themselves as Democrats than Republicans, President Bush’s job rating has hit a new low, according to the latest FOX News poll.

Three in 10 Americans (30 percent) now approve of the job Bush is doing as the nation’s leader, with 6 in 10 disapproving.

While disapproval of the president has been higher (for example, 61 percent in both July and March of 2007), his approval rating has never sunk this low before.

Majorities in every major sub-group except Republicans, conservatives and born-again Christians give a negative rating to Bush’s performance in the White House. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans (65 percent) approve of Bush.

This bad news for Bush comes at a time when the gap between those identifying themselves as Democrats and those identifying as Republicans has reached 13 percentage points (43 percent versus 30 percent), which is the largest difference ever measured in a FOX News poll.

Ponies for Holden!

I just returned from a weeks vacation in New Orleans and have brought back the bestest present of Ponies for Holden. And they come just in time as I see Chimpy has hit a new low  for CNN polling--31%.

So without further adieu.....

And Holden you have  the enthusiastic permission to re-post this photo from  the lovely owner of these lovely ponies.

Pony-Up!

Chimpy just hit his all-time low job approval rating in the Zogby Poll:  26%.  And his fellow Republikkkans are finally giving up on him.

The gains in job approval ratings made by President George W. Bush and Congress over the past few months from their all-time lows last year have reversed course in this latest poll. Approval ratings for the President stand at just 26% this month, down from 34% who gave him positive job approval marks in February. Bush has lost ground across the political spectrum, including among likely voters in his own party – fewer than half of Republicans (48%) view his job performance favorably, down from 61% last month. His support among political independents has fallen to 19% from 29% last month, and among Democrats, stands at 9%, down from 13%.

His previous low mark in Zogby was 30%, set in December 2007.

When I'm Driving In My Car And That Man Comes On The Radio

I can't get no...

A March 6-9, 2008, Gallup Poll finds only 19% of Americans satisfied with the way things are going in the United States today. This is similar to the 20% found in early February and in November 2007, but is technically the lowest Gallup has recorded since August 1992.

Gallup initiated the U.S. satisfaction measure in 1979 and has been tracking it monthly since October 2000. The low point came in July 1979, when only 12% of Americans were satisfied with the state of the country. Americans' mood sank to nearly this level in 1992, when the percentage satisfied registered 14% in June of that election year and 17% in August.

The high points of satisfaction -- 70% and 71% -- came in January and February 1999 (under a booming economy), and in the post-9/11 period in December 2001 (when Americans were rallying in support of the country).

The last time a majority of Americans were satisfied with the direction of the country was in January 2004.

Pony Time

We still don't like him.

The latest Gallup Poll, conducted March 6-9, finds 32% of Americans approving of Bush and 21% approving of Congress.

Bush's job approval rating has been stable in recent months, ranging narrowly from 31% to 34% so far this year. His approval rating has been below 40% for 18 months, since September 2006. It has not been at the 50% level since May 2005, shortly after his second term in office began. Bush's low point in office was a 29% approval rating in July 2007. The all-time low for any president is a 22% approval rating for Harry Truman in a February 1952 Gallup Poll.

Pony Up!

Newsweek Poll:  32% of Republikkkans now seeing the light.

McCain faces obstacles on several fronts. He would be the oldest person to start a first term as president, and three in 10 survey respondents think he is too old for the job. McCain is also in danger of overplaying the endorsement he received this week from President George W. Bush. Campaigning side by side with the unpopular president could hurt McCain's chances; the president's approval rating hovers around 30 percent. Even among Republicans, almost a third (32 percent) of survey respondents said they disapprove of the job Bush is doing.

Pony My Ass!

Chimpy matches his all-time low job approval rating in the new AP-IPSOS poll.

Bush Approval

Approve:  30% (unchanged, matches last month's all-time low)
Disapprove:  66% (unchanged)

Generally speaking, would you say things in this country are heading in the right direction, or are they off on the wrong track?

Right Direction:  22% (-3%)
Wrong Track:  73% (+2%)

Meanwhile, I bet the Republikkkans are overjoyed with the fact that they have selected a presidential candidate who admits that he knows nothing about economics.

WASHINGTON - Employers slashed jobs by 63,000 in February, the most in five years, the starkest sign yet the country is heading dangerously toward recession or is in one already.

The Labor Department’s report, released Friday, also showed that the nation’s unemployment rate dipped to 4.8 percent as hundreds of thousands of people — perhaps discouraged by their prospects — left the civilian labor force. The jobless rate was 4.9 percent in January.

Job losses were widespread, with hefty cuts coming from construction, manufacturing, retailing, financial services and a variety of professional and business services. Those losses swamped gains elsewhere including education and health care, leisure and hospitality, and the government.

[snip]

The Labor report also showed that the job losses suffered in January were worse than the government first reported. Employers cut 22,000 jobs, versus 17,000.

It was the first monthly back-to-back job losses since May and June 2003, when the job market was still struggling to recover from the blows of the 2001 recession.

Pony Me, Bitches!

CBS News/New YorkTimes Poll:

Bush Job Approval
Approve:  30%
Disapprove:  64%

It's Raining Ponies

It's a goddamn pony stampede!

Atrios helpfully points us to this survey.

I'd like to see another survey or two, just to make sure this isn't a low outlier.  Goddamn inferential statistics.

I think Holden is drowning in ponies right about now.

Shocking News!

Harris Interactive Poll:

When asked to say who they think was the worst president since World War II, many more people (34%) choose George W. Bush than pick anyone else.

Pony Up!

Chimpy sets an all-time low job approval rating in the new AP-IPSOS poll [pdf]:

Bush Job Approval
Approve:  30% (-4, all-time low)
Disapprove:  66% (+3, ties all-time high)

Direction of Country
Right Track:  25% (-2)
Wrong Track:  71% (+3)

More...

It's almost as if people can barely stand the thought of President Bush and Congress anymore. Bush reached his lowest approval rating in The Associated Press-Ipsos poll on Friday as only 30 percent said they like the job he is doing, including an all-time low in his support by Republicans. Congress' approval fell to just 22 percent, equaling its poorest grade in the survey. Both marks dropped by 4 percentage points since early January.

The dour public mood seems to chiefly reflect distress over the doddering economy, which has seen job cuts, financial market slides and real estate losses stoke recession fears. Bush's approval for handling the economy dove to 29 percent, a slide of 4 percentage points in a month and matching his low on that issue, with noticeable slumps among middle-income people, Southerners and city residents.

[snip]

Just 61 percent of Republicans gave Bush positive reviews; his previous low was 65 percent last month. Only 28 percent of them expressed strong approval.

About one in 10 Democrats and three in 10 independents gave Bush positive marks.

[snip]

Bush's previous overall low in the AP-Ipsos poll came in November when his approval rating was 31 percent. His current level is essentially even with that.

Congress also hit 22 percent in October. It usually has lower ratings than the president because it is an institution people love to criticize. Many have negative views of Congress while still supporting their own House and Senate members.

Pony Time!

CBS News poll [PDF]:

Buh Job Approval

Approve:  27% (ties all-time low set in June 2007)
Disapprove:  65%

More:

Confidence in the economy is also very low. Only 6 percent believe conditions are improving, while 67 percent expect them to get worse.

The troubles in the economy - highlighted by recent reports showing little growth in the gross domestic product and the first net job losses in four years - are hitting home for many Americans, 46 percent of whom said they are making just enough to pay their bills.

Not surprisingly, Americans' worries about the economy have done nothing to help President Bush's already low approval rating. In the latest survey, only 27 percent of Americans approved of his job performance, matching his all-time low.

Bush Stank Contaminates Pickles

Heh.  Another Pew Poll:

Laura Bush, once almost universally liked, has seen her favorability ratings slip along with her husband's over the past three years. Currently, a slim majority of Americans (54%) say they have a favorable impression of the First Lady, down from 70% in August of 2004. The number saying they have an unfavorable view of Laura Bush has risen from 18% to 29% over the same time period.

While trending downward, views of Laura Bush have changed less dramatically than have views of her husband over the past five years. The poll, conducted Dec. 19-30 among 1,430 adults nationwide, finds Laura Bush's favorability rating has fallen by 16 points since August 2004; by contrast, George W. Bush's favorability has declined by 25 points over the same period (from 58% to 33%).

Miserable Failure

Chimpy's job approval rating in the latest Pew Poll is stuck at 31%; most Americans view the Bush Assministration as a Miserable Failure.

As he begins his final year in office, President Bush's standing with the public continues to worsen. While his overall job approval ratings are holding steady, the balance of opinion is roughly two-to-one negative (31% approve, 59% disapprove). And the number of Americans – including many within the president's own party – who see the failures of his administration outweighing the accomplishments continues to rise, and a record high number say this year's State of the Union address is less important than in past years.

A 59% majority of Americans believe that, in the long run, the failures of the Bush administration will outweigh the accomplishments, up from 53% a year ago. Half as many (28%) say Bush's accomplishments will outweigh his failures. By comparison, in January 2004 – at the outset of Bush's re-election campaign – more saw the administrations accomplishments carrying more weight (49%) than its failures (36%).

This dour view of the Bush presidency stands in contrast to public sentiment at the same point in Bill Clinton's presidency. In January of 2000, 51% felt the Clinton administrations main legacy would be its accomplishments, while just 37% said the failures would stand out.

At the time, a quarter of Republicans felt that Clinton's legacy would be positive, compared with just 9% of Democrats who say the same about Bush today. And fewer Republicans today (62%) see Bush's accomplishments standing out compared with Democrats in 2000 (75%). Yet the most striking difference in views of the two presidents' legacies is among independents. In January 2000, a majority of independents (53%) said that Clinton's legacy would be marked by his administration's accomplishments.

Today, by a 64% to 23% margin, most independents say Bush's legacy will be marked by his administration's failures.

Pony Up, Bitches!

New NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll:

Bush Job Approval
Approve:  31% (-3)
Disapprove:  63% (+3)

Direction of the country
Right Track:  19%
Wrong Track:  68%

It's A Looooooooooooong Way To 45%

The spin doctors at the White House havre their work cut out for them.

New NYTimes/CBS News poll [PDF]:

Bush Job Approval
Approve:  29%
Disapprove:  62%

Country's Direction
Right Track:  19%
Wrong Track:  75%

Pony-Up, Goddammit!

New AP-IPSOS poll:

Bush Job Approval
Approve:  34% (-2)
Disapprove:  63% (+2)

US on the Right Track or Wrong Track
Right Track:  27% (-3)
Wrong Track:  68% (+2)

A Long Way To Go

The White house is claiming that Chimpy will hit 45% job approval by the end of his "legacy year".

Gallup says he has a long way to go.

Gallup's latest national poll, conducted Jan. 4-6, finds 32% of Americans approving of the job Bush is doing as president and a mere 23% approving of the job Congress is doing. The previous figures were 32% and 22%, respectively.

More generally, Bush's approval rating has bobbed between 31% and 34% for almost the entire period from May 2007 through today, averaging 33%.

Michgan Gets A Pony

Nice.

More than six in 10 Michiganders say George W. Bush's presidency will go down as either below average or among the worst ever, according to The Detroit Free Press/Local 4 Michigan Poll.

And among the 62% who say Bush won't be remembered favorably, 37% say his two terms will go down as among the worst, according to the poll conducted Monday through Wednesday of 800 Michigan adults.

[snip]

Four percent of those polled said Bush would rank as one of the best presidents, 9% ranked him above average and 25% said he was average.

[snip]

The poll also showed just 23% of people surveyed approve of the job Bush is doing, while 73% disapprove. The approval rating is the lowest since Selzer began conducting Michigan surveys for the Free Press in 2006. In January, Bush's approval rating was 26%.

Still The Worst

New CBS News/NYTimes Poll:

The dour economic outlook is coupled with numbers showing a large majority of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction: 71 percent said America is on the wrong track, compared to only 21 percent who said it was headed in the right direction. These numbers have been relatively stable since 2006.

Given these results, it is unsurprising that President Bush's job approval rating remains near his record low, with 28 percent approving of his performance, down from 30 percent in October. That is only 1 percent higher than his worst rating, recorded in June. As expected, Democrats and independents are the chief drivers of Bush's low ratings. Two-thirds of Republicans still approve of his performance.

Chimpy matches his all-time high job disapproval ratingof 65% in this poll.

Pony Up!

New Pew Poll:

Bush Job Approval:  30% (unchanged from October, one point higher than his all-time Pew low).

Pony Up!

It's like clockwork.  Just when the WaPo and US News decide Chimpy is primed for a comeback Gallup comes out with a new poll showing we still hate him as much as we ever have.

Bush's job approval ratings have shown little change in the past two months -- 32% of Americans now say they approve of the job he is doing as president and 61% disapprove. Over the course of the year, Bush's approval ratings have been fairly stable, averaging 34% and fluctuating between a high of 38% in April and his administration's low point of 29% in July.

[snip]

Bush's approval rating is higher among men than among women; among frequent churchgoers than among those who seldom or never attend religious services; among those living in the South than among those living elsewhere; among those in higher-income than among those in lower-income households; and among whites than among blacks. There are only minor variations in Bush's approval rating by age and education.

Among African Americans: 8% approval, 89% disapproval.

Red State Ponies

I'm beginnig to wonder if there are any Red States left.

More than half of adults in five military-friendly Southern Atlantic states say the United States should no longer be in Iraq and that the conflict was not worth the fight, according to a poll released Friday.

The Elon University survey found that 52 percent of adults in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia no longer support a military presence in Iraq.

The same percentage of respondents also said they feel the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, compared with 40 percent who said it was worth it. And 57 percent said they support setting a timetable to remove some U.S. troops from Iraq by the summer of 2008.

Those numbers weighed heavily on President Bush, with only 34 percent of adults approving of how he's served as president compared with 57 percent of those who disapprove.

Bush's approval numbers have been on a constant slide. In February, an Elon poll recorded a 37 percent approval rating in the same southeast region, and, one year before that, 43 percent approval.

Big Sky Ponies!

Jeebus!  Chimpy's job approval rating in Montana feel 12 points over the past year.

BOZEMAN (AP) – A new poll shows President Bush's approval ratings in Montana have dropped significantly, along with support for the decision to go to war in Iraq.

The survey released Thursday by Montana State University-Billings found 32 percent of Montana residents approve of Bush's overall job performance, while 57 percent disapproved and 11 percent were undecided.

[snip]

Bush's approval ratings were down from 45 percent last year in the same Montana State University-Billings poll, and down from a 2001 high of 87 percent.

Support for the decision to go to war is also eroding.

The poll found that only 35 percent of Montanans surveyed now support the decision to go to war in Iraq. About 58 percent oppose that decision, up from 48 percent in both 2005 and 2006 in the same poll.

And 54 percent of respondents said they oppose Bush's decision to veto an expansion of a children's health insurance program.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer, U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, along with U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, all fared well in the new survey.

[snip]

Baucus, a Democrat, received an approval rating of 64 percent, with the rest of those surveyed about equally split between disapproval and undecided. His approval rating in the same poll has swayed from 50 percent in 1994 to 68 percent in 1998.

Schweitzer, also a Democrat, received favorable approval from 63 percent of those surveyed, while 18 percent disapproved and 19 percent were undecided. The governor, elected in 2004, had a 69 percent approval rating in 2005.

[snip]

Tester, a Democrat elected last year, received the approval of 57 percent of those surveyed, while 16 percent disapproved. A larger portion, 27 percent, were undecided. It was the first time Montana State University-Billings had asked the question about Tester.

[snip]

63 percent say the country is moving in the wrong direction; 19 percent say it's moving in the right direction.

Pakistani Ponies

The Pakistanis love them some Bin Laden.

A public opinion poll of Pakistanis in September ranking certain leaders according to their popularity suggests what the results have been. Bin Laden, at 46% approval, was more popular than Musharraf, at 38%, who in turn was far better liked than Bush, at a bottom-scraping 7%. There is every reason to believe that, with the imposition of martial law, Musharraf's and Bush's popularity have sunk even further. Wars, whether on terror or anything else, don't tend to go well when the enemy is more popular than those supposedly on one's own side.

Multi-State Ponies

Survey USA releases a new batch of Bush job approval numbers.

Alabama:  41%
California:  26%
Iowa:  32%
Kansas:  38%
Kentucky:  35%
Massachusets:  22%
Minnesota:  34%
Missouri:  35%
New Mexico:  32%
New York:22%
Ohio:  34%
Oregon:  31%
Virginia:  33%
Washington:  31%
Wisconsin:  32%

Mitch McConnell and Norm Coleman must be feeling a bit nervous today.

Sunshine Ponies

Chimpy hits an all-time low in a new poll of Florida's voters.

Florida twice put President Bush into the White House, but a new poll shows him hitting an all-time low among voters in the nation's most populous swing state.

The survey shows that voters are troubled by Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, support withdrawing troops ''as quickly as possible,'' and are overwhelmingly convinced -- 68 percent -- that the country is on the wrong track.

Just 33 percent of the state's registered voters rated Bush's job performance ''excellent'' or ''good,'' and 50 percent called his handling of the situation in Iraq ''poor,'' according to the poll conducted for The Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post, the St. Petersburg Times and Bay News 9. The survey has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

[snip]

The poll points to a potential trouble spot for the Republicans who would like to succeed Bush and have largely sided with him on Iraq: Even a majority of voters in the traditionally conservative, military-friendly Panhandle support withdrawing troops from Iraq ''as quickly as possible in a safe and orderly manner.'' In South Florida, support for pulling troops out tops 66 percent.

Oh - And Christains love war.

But the poll shows that voters are more evenly divided over the possibility of Bush using military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Forty-nine percent said they would oppose such an event; 43 percent said they would support the move. Support was highest among those who said they attend church ''very frequently'' or identified themselves as born-again Christians.

[Republican pollster Kellyanne] Conway noted that parents were more likely than nonparents to back military action against Iran, and ``as far as religion goes, those who attended church frequently were much more blood-curdlers.''

Buckeye Ponies

Sucks to be the Chimp.

Bush didn't fare nearly as well in the poll, with 31 percent of all Ohio registered voters approving of his performance, 66 percent disapproving and 3 percent with no opinion.

This is the lowest approval rating Bush has received during his presidency, down from an 89 percent approval rating in November 2001, the Ohio Poll said in a news release.

Most Republicans (60 percent), say Bush is doing a good job, but 68 percent of Independent voters and 95 percent of Democratic voters disapprove.

Some of the specifics on Bush's performance:

• 50 percent of voters who describe themselves as white evangelical Protestants approve of his performance, 47 percent disapprove and 4 percent have no opinion.
• 33 percent of Ohio voters approve of his handling of foreign affairs, 67 percent disapprove and 2 percent are neutral.
• 31 percent are happy with Bush's handling of the Iraq situation, 67 percent are unhappy and 2 percent neither approve nor disapprove.
• 34 percent agree with Bush's handling of the economy, 64 percent disagree and 2 percent have no opinion.

"Life's Like Sanskrit Read To A Pony"*

This morning we find that the results from a new AP-IPSOS poll have been released.

Bush Job Approval
Approve:  32% (one point over all-time low)
Disapprove:  65%

Country's direction
Right Track:  25%
Wrong Track:  70%

Bush Handling of Economy
Approve:  32% (all-time low)
Disapprove:  65% (all-time high)

*Lou Reed

Pony Me!

There's a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll out.  Chimpys job approval rating falls two points two 31%, just points above his all-timelow of29%.

One of the most striking findings in the latest NBC/WSJ poll is just how angry Americans -- Democrats, Republicans, and independents -- are, and how much they want change. Just 21% believe the country is on the right track, only 31% approve of Bush’s job, and a whopping 74% say they want the next president to take a different approach than Bush.

Four Months Of Pony

Chimpy continues to scrape the bottom of the WaPo/ABC barrel.

For the fourth consecutive month, Bush's approval rating remains at a career low. Thirty-three percent said they approve of the job he is doing, and 64 percent disapprove. Majorities have disapproved of Bush's job performance for more than 2 1/2 years.

Jersey Ponies!

Chimpy sets a new low in the Farleigh Dickinson Public Mind poll of New jersey voters.

President Bush’s approval rating in the Garden State is very low at 26% and the percent of voters saying that the country is on the wrong track increased from 67% to a new high of 71%.  At the same time, the percent of voters who say the country is on the right track dipped to a new low of 18%. Similarly, the percent of voters saying that going into Iraq was the right thing dropped from 32% to 27%, erasing gains made last month in the wake of General Petraeus’ testimony before Congress.