Over the weekend, both Time and Newsweek magazines released surveys that confirm results from other organizations in the field last week. Newsweek polled 1,009 adults Thursday and Friday evenings last week (9/8-9); Time surveyed 1,000 adults on Wednesday and Thursday evenings (9/7-8). The results are largely consistent with those from other pollsters that released results last week in terms of assessments of George W. Bush’s reaction to the Hurricane and his overall job rating.
Like the other pollsters, both Time and Newsweek found Bush’s overall job approval rating at the lowest levels yet measured in his presidency. Both asked the same question: "Do you approve or disapprove the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president."
- On the Newsweek poll, 38% approved, 55% disapproved.
- On the Time poll, 42% approved, 52% disapproved.
Like the other pollsters, Time and Newsweek found more negative reactions when they asked more specifically about the way Bush handled Hurricane Katrina.
- 33% of respondents on the Time poll gave Bush a good or excellent rating for his performance "responding to the hurricane and the destruction it caused," 65% gave him an only fair or poor rating.
- 37% of respondents on the Newsweek poll expressed approval for "the way Bush is handling . . . Problems caused by the impact of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast;" 57% disapproved
Like the CBS News poll, Newsweek found the biggest change in perceptions of the president coming on the issue of whether he "has strong leadership qualities." Slightly less than half (49%) of adults and registered voters now agree, down 14 percentage points (from 63% among registered voters) since last October.
For those who want the full details, the complete results on a "filled in questionnaire" can be found here for Newsweek and should be posted here soon for Time.
More to come. . .
