RICHMOND - The war in Iraq and the government's sputtering response to Hurricane Katrina have damaged President Bush's standing with Virginia voters, according to a poll of registered voters conducted for The Roanoke Times and other state newspapers.
Bush's job approval rating stands at 42 percent in a state that gave him a comfortable majority in last year's election. In a survey completed this week by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., 37 percent graded the president's performance as "poor" and 20 percent rated it as "fair." The telephone survey of 625 registered voters was conducted Tuesday through Thursday and completed before Bush's nationally televised address from New Orleans on Thursday night. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Bush's job approval rating in Virginia has dropped 12 points since a Mason-Dixon poll conducted in October, when 56 percent rated the Republican president's performance as "excellent" or "good." Bush went on to win 54 percent of the Virginia vote in his election victory over Democrat John Kerry.
Brad Coker, the managing director of the Mason-Dixon poll, attributed Bush's sagging support to growing unease about the war in Iraq and dissatisfaction with Bush's response to the hurricane that devastated the Gulf Coast region. In the survey, 52 percent said they disapprove of Bush's handling of the war and 54 percent said they disapprove of his performance in the aftermath of the hurricane.
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