Bush takes a hammering in the polls

Last updated at 15:31 20 September 2005


US President George Bush has failed to stem his slide in the opinion polls, despite his vow to rebuild New Orleans.

His address to the nation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina did little to revive public support, according to a new poll.

Just 40 per cent said they approved of the way the President was handling his job and 58 per cent disapproved.

Support for his management of the war in Iraq has dropped to 32 per cent with more than two thirds expressing disapproval of how the conflict is being handled.

For the first time in a CNN/USA Today poll, a majority said Mr Bush was not a strong and decisive leader.

Honesty problem

Half said they would not call him honest and 56 per cent said he did not care about people like them.

Mr Bush addressed the nation from New Orleans last week, promising that the Government would fund "one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen."

He announced a package of housing, health care, jobs and education for the hundreds of thousands whose lives have been ripped apart.

The President, who made a rare admission of failure in taking responsibility for the slow response to the tragedy, promised that lessons would be learned.

But in a sign of trouble for Mr Bush, 54 per cent said the Katrina recovery, which is expected to cost up to £110billion ($200billion), should be paid for by cutting spending on the war in Iraq.

Just 25 per cent said they had great confidence in his government's ability to rebuild the ravaged Gulf coast.

Carroll Doherty from the independent Pew Research Centre told USA Today: "Bush stands at a precipice. He's lost ground among independents.

He seems to be starting to lose ground among his own party. And he lost the Democrats a long time ago."

More than 800 adults were polled between last Friday and Monday.

Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.