[size=4]The Reassuring President[/size=4]
[b]Americans feel good about George W. Bush.[/b] January 25, 2002 11:55 a.m.

If you're a Democrat looking for ways to seize the political initiative from President George W. Bush, here are some daunting statistics from the newly released Battleground 2002 poll. Republican Ed Goeas and Democrat Celinda Lake, the pollsters who conducted the survey, asked people the following question: "When you think about President George W. Bush's first year in office, which of the following emotions best describes how you feel?" After the question came seven choices: hopeful, reassured, content, anxious, frustrated, disappointed, and angry.

Thirty-four percent of respondents chose hopeful. Thirty percent said they were reassured. Eleven percent said content. On the negative side, seven percent said they were anxious, six percent said frustrated, another six percent said disappointed, and three percent said angry.

Taken together, the pollsters found that 75 percent of respondents described themselves as feeling hopeful, reassured, or content about the Bush presidency after one year, while just 22 percent described themselves as anxious, frustrated, disappointed, or angry (a small percentage of those polled had no response).

Here's another number. Goeas and Lake asked respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement, "George W. Bush has improved the tone of politics in Washington today." Thirty-five percent agreed strongly, 30 percent agreed somewhat, 15 percent disagreed strongly, and 14 percent disagreed somewhat. Together, 65 percent of voters said the president has improved the tone — and that number was roughly consistent among men and women, as well as independent voters.

Overall, the president's job-approval rating in the new poll — 85 percent — is in line with what it has been in other surveys. But the Battleground pollsters studied in greater detail why respondents feel as they do — and the results show just how much of Bush's support owes to his handling of the terrorist attacks on the United States.

If a respondent said he or she approved of Bush's job performance, pollsters then asked, "Being as specific as you can, what are one or two reasons why you approve of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?" The first three reasons were all war-related: 41 percent said they approve of how Bush is handling the war on terrorism, 13 percent said he has shown strong, decisive leadership, and 13 percent said they approve of how he handled the 9/11 crisis in general.

In other areas, 11 percent said they approve of Bush's efforts to cut taxes, nine percent said they approve of his efforts to get the economy moving again, six percent said they approve of his strong character, family values, and sense of morality, and five percent said he is honest, trustworthy, and straightforward.

See remainder of article at:[url]
http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york012502.shtml[/url]

Eric The(Republican)Hun[>]:)]