WaPo: Voters' Optimism Drops As Economic Fears Rise

[marmar]

APPROVAL OF BUSH AT 32%
Voters' Optimism Drops As Economic Fears Rise
By Jon Cohen and Jennifer Agiesta
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, January 15, 2008; Page A04

Concern about the economy has jumped to the front of voters' minds as optimism about the nation's direction has dipped to its lowest point in more than a decade, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Nearly eight in 10 now think the country is "pretty seriously" off track. That is the most sour public assessment since the January 1996 political standoff between President Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress that led to a historic government shutdown.

This time, a slowing economy is a prime culprit in the negative outlook and serves as a further drag on public views of President Bush. The president's ratings have not topped 50 percent in Post-ABC polls in nearly three years, with the war in Iraq the main tow on his standing.

Bush's approval rating stands at 32 percent, a career low in Post-ABC polling. Only 28 percent give him positive marks for dealing with the economy, another new low point.

Two-thirds feel "strongly" that the next president should take the country in a different direction, and negative views of the Bush administration and the economy threaten to transform the presidential race.

Over the past four months, the percentage of Americans calling the economy and jobs their most important voting issue has nearly tripled, catapulting the issue past the war in Iraq as the top voter concern in the presidential election.

In the new national poll, the economy-and-jobs issue ranks first for voters in each party, and majorities in each are pessimistic about the direction of the country, although there is a significant partisan divide. More than nine in 10 Democrats and eight in 10 independents see the country as on the wrong track; 51 percent of Republicans agree. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/14/AR2008011402701.html

[sunonmars]

1. With the economy in trouble, that will not translate in votes for Obama

People run to safe pairs of hands.

Bad time for the economy to take a major nosedive for him.

[Hutzpa]

2. Darn.....you sure

are earning your money tonite,

why would you associate bad economy to Obama?

[marmar]

3. Oh great.....the Hatfields v McCoys feud has reached this thread....

:eyes:

Please spare the rest of us.