EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AFTER 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 20, 2004
Views on Iraq Grow More Glum; Bush Ratings, and Rumsfeld's, Follow
Americans have grown more sour on the situation in Iraq, driving down the president's ratings on the war and on terrorism more broadly, and fostering majority support for the ouster of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Fifty-six percent, a new high, now say the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, and fewer than half think the United States is making significant progress restoring civil order there. Most call Iraq unready for the election scheduled for late next month, doubt the integrity of the election process and lack confidence it'll produce a stable government.
There are political implications: Fifty-seven percent disapprove of George W. Bush's work on the situation, a point shy of his worst rating on Iraq, set during the Abu Ghraib scandal last spring. His approval for handling terrorism overall - his best issue - has dropped to 53 percent, near its low, 50 percent in June.
As for Rumsfeld, just 35 percent approve of his work - half of what it was just before the fall of Baghdad - and 52 percent say Bush should replace him.