Majority of Independents Disaprove of Bush's Policies

John Zogby: The Lost Center
To paraphrase William Shakespeare, "Now is the summer of our discontent." Nowhere is this more apparent than in the latest Zogby International poll (conducted June 20-22) which finds George W. Bush at the lowest ebb of his presidency. The president’s job approval rating stands at an abysmal 44 percent. The disapproval is across the board: nearly two-thirds of all respondents dislike Bush’s handling of the Iraq War, jobs and the economy, education, the environment, and Social Security and Medicare. Moreover, on Bush’s two signature issues–the war on terror and taxes–his performance has wandered into negative territory: 50 percent disapprove of his management of terrorism; 62 percent dislike his tax policies.

Table 1: The Lost Center and George W. Bush.
Moderate Response // Independent Response // Nationwide Response

Percentage giving George W. Bush either a fair or poor rating on his overall job performance
66 // 67 // 56
Percentage giving George W. Bush either a fair or poor rating on education
79 // 74 // 63
Percentage giving George W. Bush either a fair or poor rating on handling Iraq
70 // 68 // 61
Percentage giving George W. Bush either a fair or poor rating on foreign policy
70 // 73 // 61
Percentage giving George W. Bush either a fair or poor rating on the environment
74 // 72 // 65
Percentage giving George W. Bush either a fair or poor rating on jobs and the economy
73 // 74 // 65
Percentage giving George W. Bush either a fair or poor rating on taxes
69 // 68 // 62
Percentage giving George W. Bush either a fair or poor rating on Social Security and Medicare
75 // 78 // 69
Percentage Giving George W. Bush either a fair or poor rating on foreign policy
70 // 73 // 61
Percentage giving George W. Bush a fair or poor rating on the war on terrorism
54 // 56 // 50
Percentage of respondents saying they are proud to have George W. Bush as their president
44 // 44 // 51
Percentage saying the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction
60 // 57 // 53

Source: Zogby International, poll, June 20-22, 2005.