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Senior Politics
Senior Citizen Approval of Bush Same as All Adults
but Has Dropped Less
Seniors back in January '05 had lower opinion to
begin with
May 26, 2006 – A Gallup Poll released today shows
that the approval rating for President Bush by senior citizens has not
dropped as much as most other adults, but it is because the seniors had
a lower rating for the President in the first place. The current
approval rating by seniors is 33 percent, the same as the average for
American adults of all ages.
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Senior Politics |
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Since the start of his second term, George W.
Bush's job approval rating has dropped almost 20 percentage points,
including declines among key demographic groups," writes Jeffrey M.
Jones in his poll report.
"A Gallup analysis shows that Bush has lost the
most support over this period from moderate and liberal Republicans,
with most of this change coming in the last several months. Conservative
Republicans remain solidly behind Bush, although their level of support
for him has declined somewhat from the near-universal support they gave
him at the start of his second term," reports Jones.
Bush's overall approval rating averaged 33% in the
three most recent Gallup Polls, conducted in late April through mid-May.
This is down from a 43% average in three polls conducted in January
2006, and a 52% average in three polls conducted in January 2005, as
Bush began his second term in office.
The decline in support for Bush over the last 16
months has occurred among all major political and demographic groups.
In the January 2005 poll, senior citizens gave Bush
a lower approval rating than any age group except the very young. The 18
to 29 year olds approved of the job Bush was doing by 46%. Seniors were
at 50% but the average for all adults was 52%.
By January of 2006, the senior's had decreased
their approval to 40% - a drop of 10 percentage points. The youngest
group, too, dropped their approval to 39%. The average for all adults
was hanging much higher at 43%.
And, in the current poll, the youngest adults are
down to just 28%, as the senior are dropped to 33%.
It is interesting that the opinions of all women
are close to mirroring that of seniors, which may indicate the large
number of women in the senior group. But, the women's approval is
currently down to only 31% - two percentage points lower than all
seniors.
"Currently, there is only a small gender gap in
ratings of Bush -- 35% of men and 31% of women approve of the job he is
doing. Women's support for Bush dropped more between January 2005 and
January 2006 (51% to 40%), while the drop in support among men has
happened more recently," notes Jones.
|
George W. Bush Presidential Job
Approval |
|
Group |
Jan
2005 |
Jan
2006 |
Apr/May
2006 |
Change,
Jan '05-
Apr/May
2006 |
Change,
Jan '06-
Apr/May
2006 |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
Pct. Pts. |
Pct. Pts. |
|
All
Americans |
52 |
43 |
33 |
-19 |
-10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Age |
|
|
18 to 29
years old |
46 |
39 |
28 |
-18 |
-11 |
|
30 to 49
years old |
55 |
46 |
35 |
-20 |
-11 |
|
50 to 64
years old |
52 |
44 |
32 |
-20 |
-12 |
|
65 years
and older |
50 |
40 |
33 |
-17 |
-7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gender |
|
|
Men |
53 |
47 |
35 |
-18 |
-12 |
|
Women |
51 |
40 |
31 |
-20 |
-9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Race |
|
|
White |
56 |
47 |
36 |
-20 |
-11 |
|
Black |
22 |
15 |
11 |
-11 |
-4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the report for Gallup, Jones also wrote:
"Bush's decline in support has been steepest among
the group of Republicans who describe their political views as moderate
or liberal. In the three most recent polls, 36% of Republicans
identified as moderates and 6% as liberals, with the remaining 58%
saying they are conservatives. Among the group of moderate and liberal
Republicans, approval of Bush has fallen from 84% in January 2005 to 55%
today, a decline of 29 percentage points. Most of that decline has come
in recent months -- 74% of moderate and liberal Republicans still
approved of Bush at the beginning of this year. The 19-percentage-point
drop over the last four months is nearly double the national average
loss of 10 points.
"Bush's support among conservative Republicans has
also declined, but to a lesser degree. Again, most of this decline has
occurred more recently -- 92% of conservative Republicans approved of
Bush in January 2005, compared with 89% in January 2006 and 78% today.
"Conservatives and Republicans are the only groups
analyzed who show majority approval for Bush in the latest polling. His
approval rating among all Republicans -- regardless of their ideological
leanings -- is 73%. Among all conservatives -- regardless of party
affiliation -- Bush's approval rating is currently 54%.
"Democrats have shown less change than have
Republicans over time. This is partly because relatively few Democrats,
20%, approved of Bush at the beginning of his second term, making
further large declines less possible mathematically. Now, 8% of all
Democrats approve of Bush, a decline of 12 points from his rating among
this group in January 2005. Support for Bush today is low among
Democrats of all ideological persuasions -- conservative (11%), moderate
(9%) and liberal (1%).
"Twenty-three percent of independents approve of
Bush, compared with 42% in January 2005 and 31% at the start of this
year.
"Geographically, Bush's support is greatest in the
South (40%) and lowest in the East (26%), with his ratings in the
Midwest (32%) and West (31%) falling between those extremes. Most of the
drop in Bush's approval rating among Western residents has occurred this
year -- it dipped by only three points (from 48% to 45%) between January
2005 and January 2006, but has since fallen an additional 14 points.
"Eleven percent of blacks approve of the job Bush
is doing as president, compared with 36% of whites. Bush began his
second term with a 22% approval rating among blacks; black support for
Bush has been cut in half since then.
>> For the complete Gallup report -
click here.
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