Dems barely beat Bush's dismal ratings By: David Mark Oct 11, 2007 06:57 PM EST
President Bush's approval ratings continue to hover just above Richard Nixon's on the eve of his resignation amid the Watergate scandal, but Democratic congressional leaders do not fare much better in public esteem, according to a new Harris Interactive poll.
Only 27 percent of U.S. adults view Bush's job performance positively, while 72 percent give him negative ratings, according to the survey.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gets positive marks from only 29 percent, while 57 percent hold negative views, according to the Harris Poll, which surveyed 1,003 U.S. adults by telephone from Oct. 5-8. Harris Poll declines to release a figure for its margin of error.
The poll squares with other recent surveys of Bush's low approval ratings as he approaches his final years in office, beset by voter angst about the Iraq war, a weak housing market and other concerns.
Analyst Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report says the poll suggests that while approval ratings for Democrats are low, Republicans are still considered the bottom feeders in Congress.
"What this means is that Congress has low job approval ratings. Democrats are pathetic, and Republicans are even worse," Cook said.
Most polls show the president's current approval ratings hovering near 30 percent.
According to Cook, this poll showcases the very harshest edge of public opinion.
As for Pelosi's approval rating, Cook said that most poll respondents are probably lumping her in with their less than satisfactory views of the government in general.
"I don't think anywhere near that percentage has a clue who Nancy Pelosi is," he said.
The relatively negative view of Pelosi, the first Democratic House speaker in a dozen years, comes not only amid expected criticism from Republicans about her party's ideology, but also from elements of the left who have been highly critical of what they deem insufficient efforts to end the Iraq war, including cutting off funding for military efforts there.
Of course, Pelosi is not the only congressional leader lacking public support.
Just 18 percent of those surveyed see Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's job performance in a positive light, while 58 percent take a negative view of the Nevada Democrat.
Though an outspoken Bush critic, he has suffered criticism similar to that of Pelosi from the more liberal elements of his party, over what they consider an inability to confront the Bush administration over Iraq and some domestic issues.
On the Republican side of the aisle, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) pulled in a positive rating of just 16 percent, while more than half of those asked, 52 percent, view him negatively.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) scored only slightly higher, with a 21 percent positive rating.
As previous polls have indicated, the Iraq war continues to drag down approval ratings of national politicians from both parties. In the Harris poll, 24 percent cited the war as their top concern.
Twenty-five percent of adults said health care is a top issue, with the economy (13 percent) and immigration (12 percent) picking up the rear.
Erika Lovley contributed to this story.