Latest Pew poll has Bush down to 50% (dissaprove up 6%, approve down 5%)

[jenk]

getting a lot of mixed signals with these polls....

http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. Oct. 15-19, 2003. N=1,515 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.

.

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?" If "Depends": "Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?"

A D DK
10/15-19/03 50% 42% 8%

[FlemingsGhost]

1. Here on in, I suspect Bush will poll at, or just below 50%

thus giving him the opportunity to squeak-out another "very close election." (Wink, wink)

Even if the fight is fixed, be sure to give the fans a show.
Think "WWF"...

[central scrutinizer]

2. but but but

Bush doesn't believe in polls, read polls, or govern through polls, or mention polls, unless, of course, they are trending upwards. And that $1 million/year polling operation in the White House basement is not really a polling operation because Bush doesn't believe in polls.

[mistertrickster]

3. And what's really interesting is that in this poll it's been a straight

drop since April 9. Twenty five points in five to six months . . . woo hoo!

Date . . . . . Approve
. . . . . . . . . . . . .Disapprove
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Don't know
10/15- 19/03 .50 42 8
9/17 - 22/03 .55 36 9
8/5 - 11/03 ...56 32 12
7/14 - 8/5/03 53 37 10
6/24 - 7/8/03 58 32 10
6/19 - 7/2/03 60 29 11
4/30 - 5/4/03 65 27 8
4/10-16/03 . .72 22 6

[ozone_man]

4. Looks like it's time for another war.

Can't let the poll numbers slip below 50.

[Wickerman]

5. and, he's got 87B just burning a hole in his pocket

like a redneck roughneck off the oil rigs he used to own, its payday and he's ready for some fun in town. Get a little drunk, maybe pick a fight or two (attack a country, maybe two). The plus side is that his daddy can bail him out, just like he and his friends did back in the oil days.

[UpInArms]

6. 42% disapproval is the highest

that has been - those are the numbers we need to see continue rising

[The Magistrate]

7. Indeed, Ma'am

Rising negatives trump declining positives.

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[jeter]

8. Do you mean that Gallup was wrong?

Ever since Gallup released their infamous 56% approval rating, not a single other polling firm has confirmed it.

It's been as low as 49% with Zogby. As high as 53% with FOX.

Could it be that Gallup is pulling our leg?

[ByeDick]

13. If you want to know why Gallup needs to fudge the numbers:

George W. is about to cross a very important poll benchmark.

He's just about to cross BELOW the comparable post-war re-election trends of Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton.

See VERY TELLING GRAPH here:

[shockingelk]

15. margin of error ...

The margin of error for the Gallup poll is around 4% - so "56% approval" really means "between 52% and 60% approval" ... and if you follow with your eye the general trend of the Gallup poll, you'll see that the last four points are within 8% of the general trend ... so likely what it means is the third and fourth most recent polls were lowballing it and the two since have been highballing it.

It is not proof of dishonesty as some have argued.

[Wickerman]

17. great graph

nice to see Bush* heading to Nixon end of reign territory.

[Gloria]

18. Irony of ironies---the head of Pew, Andy Kohut, was the President of

Gallup back when I worked there 1978-80 (alternated with Leonard Wood every year). He left to got to Pew, but still does all the election analysis on PBS, just like when he was at Gallup.

Gallup was sold to a corporate entity years ago, so it's not the same outfit that was run by Andy, with the founder George Sr. still roaming the halls. That was the real Gallup and I was proud to be there way back then.

[DemNoir]

9. The PEW poll usually leans Republican

If this is the best they can do for him he must really be in trouble!

[VolcanoJen]

10. The Horse (MWO) has a great take on the new Pew Poll

www.mediawhoresonline.com

FLASH: Yet Another Poll Puts Lie to Last Week's "Bush Rebounds" Myth Perpetrated by Hopeful State-Run Media in Response to Gallup Fluke...

[ByeDick]

11. The most important thing about these numbers...

Is that they are WARTIME polls.

Every time Bush gets behind a microphone, he talks about WAR AND TERRORISM and TERRORISM and WAR.

The People are judging him by how he and the cable tabloid media define him... As the high and mighty WARRIOR.

These are Bush's HIGH numbers, not Bush's low numbers.

[Beetwasher]

12. This Confirms the Continuing Steady Downward Trend

No mixed signals at all, except from Gallup.

Gallup's got lot's of splainin' to do:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=534560

Another interesting thing I've noticed about these polls. You'll notice that most have an "I don't Know Column". Zogby get's rid of most of these by splitting into four groups instead and lump "fair" in w/ "poor". I contend these "I don't know's" are more inclined towards negative or would be considered "fair" by Zogby's reckoning because people just don't want to admit outright they think he's doing a piss poor job.

[The Magistrate]

14. That Is So, Sir

"Undecided" generally breaks against an office-holder.

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[cliss]

16. When is this guy going to drop below 50?

I keep waiting. They keep saying his approval rating has dropped again, but it still seems to hover around 50.

The polls need to get real.