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Senior Citizen Politics
Senior Citizens Drop Bush Approval More than Others
Since 2004
Older Americans join others in giving Bush
all-time low approval
| |
 |
|
| |
|
Age |
Approve 04 |
Approve 06 |
Change |
|
Under 30 |
40 |
29 |
-11 |
|
30-49 |
49 |
34 |
-15 |
|
50-64 |
51 |
32 |
-19 |
|
65+ |
53 |
33 |
-20 |
|
|
June 6, 2006 The public's approval of President
George W. Bush hit an all time low in the latest research by the Pew
Research Center 33%. Although the analysis by Pew highlights the big
drop in approval by moderate Republicans, it is senior citizens that
lead all age groups in lowering the approval rating since the 2004
election. Then, seniors were the strongest backers of the President
(53%) but today they agree with all adults and give Bush an approval
rating of 33%.
The drop in the senior citizen support has been the
largest a drop of 20% - of any age group. And, indications are that
this change is spearheaded by men, since the only other demographic
group in the poll with a drop this large was in men age 50 and older.
Their approval fell 23%, while that of women the same age fell only 16%.
A big factor, however, is that it was this group of
older men that most strongly supported Bush in the last election, giving
him a 57% approval at election time. The older women only gave Bush a
47% positive rating in 2004.
A Gallup Poll released May 26 showed that the
approval rating for President Bush by senior citizens has not dropped as
much as most other adults since January 2005, 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 in the Gallup Poll -
the same as the average for American adults of all ages. So, in both
recent polls the seniors have lowered their support to the same as the
rest of the county.
Courtney Kennedy and Michael Dimock, in their
analysis for the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, note,
"As public approval of George W. Bush languishes at all-time low levels,
supporters of the president are increasingly hard to find. In the months
following his re-election, roughly half of the country rated Bush's job
performance favorably. Today only a third of Americans do so, while more
than half (56%) disapprove of his performance."
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Other highlights in their report include:
● among moderate to liberal Republicans approval
has dropped 25 points from 81% to 56%;
● among all Republicans approval has dropped 20 percentage (from 89% to
69%);
● within the Republican Party, moderate women stand out for their lack
of support a falloff of 31 percentage points;
● his approval rating among moderate and liberal Republican men stands
at just over six-in-ten (62%) down only 19 points over this same period;
● conservative Republican support for Bush has also declined, but more
gradually - nearly unanimous (93%) following his re-election, and 15
points lower at 78% today;
● there is no gender gap in presidential approval among more
conservative Republicans;
● the president has lost much of the backing of independents that
helped him win reelection in 2004 - approval among independents has
fallen from 45% to 26% since the post-election period;
● Bush has lost less support among Democrats, but there was little
support to lose - in 2004, 17% of Democrats rated the president's
performance positively; just 9% do so today;
● Barely half (55%) of white Evangelicals now approve of the job Bush
is doing, down from 77% following the 2004 election;
● Bush's rating among Americans under age 30 fell just 11 percentage
points during that time from an already marginal rating of 40% down to
29% today:
● In the South, where Bush is viewed most favorably, his job approval
has dropped 20 points from 56% to 36%;
● In the Northeast, where he has had the least support throughout his
presidency, approval has fallen 12 points from 39% to 27% today;
● the percent of Hispanics who approve is down from 45% to 29%, and
African-Americans continue to view Bush very negatively:
● positive views of Bush have fallen most sharply in the middle-income
brackets (income in the $30,000-$75,000 range), down 20 percentage
points compared with 12- and 13-point drops among the most wealthy and
least wealthy.
Beyond the overall balance of opinion, the
intensity of views about Bush has changed as well, say the authors.
After his re-election, comparable numbers strongly approved and strongly
disapproved of his job performance (34% vs. 35%). Today those who
strongly disapprove of his performance outnumber those who strongly
approve by more than two-to-one (45% vs. 19%, respectively).
Even among key Republican constituencies, support
for Bush has been waning not necessarily from approval to disapproval
but from strong approval to a somewhat weaker endorsement.
● more than eight-in-ten (81%) conservative
Republicans "strongly approved" of Bush's job in office, but closer to
half (54%) feel this way today;
● the number of white, evangelical Protestants strongly backing the
president has fallen from six-in-ten after his re-election down to 34%
today;
● strong support for Bush has declined among southerners (40% to 20%),
high income earners (34% to 22%), weekly church-goers (42% to 25%), and
those who are married with young children (41% to 26%).
These latest figures are based on a Pew Research
Center survey conducted April 27-May 22, among a national sample of
3,204 adults, a large enough survey to allow for a more detailed
breakdown of where and how opinion has changed since the election.
|
Bush Approval
Rating by Selected Demographics |
|
|
December, 2004 |
May, 2006 |
Change in Approval |
|
|
Approve |
Disapprove |
DK/Ref |
Approve |
Disapprove |
DK/Ref |
|
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
Total |
48 |
44 |
8 |
33 |
56 |
11 |
-15 |
|
Sex |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Male |
53 |
41 |
6 |
35 |
56 |
9 |
-18 |
|
Female |
45 |
46 |
9 |
30 |
57 |
13 |
-15 |
|
Age |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Under 30 |
40 |
52 |
8 |
29 |
58 |
13 |
-11 |
|
30-49 |
49 |
43 |
8 |
34 |
54 |
12 |
-15 |
|
50-64 |
51 |
43 |
6 |
32 |
60 |
8 |
-19 |
|
65+ |
53 |
37 |
10 |
33 |
54 |
13 |
-20 |
|
Sex and Age |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Men under 50 |
50 |
43 |
7 |
35 |
55 |
10 |
-15 |
|
Women under 50 |
43 |
48 |
9 |
30 |
56 |
14 |
-13 |
|
Men 50+ |
57 |
38 |
5 |
34 |
59 |
7 |
-23 |
|
Women 50+ |
47 |
43 |
10 |
31 |
57 |
12 |
-16 |
|
Education |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
College Grad. |
47 |
47 |
6 |
35 |
37 |
8 |
-12 |
|
Some College |
50 |
41 |
9 |
34 |
54 |
12 |
-16 |
|
H.S. Grad |
48 |
44 |
8 |
30 |
58 |
12 |
-18 |
|
Less than H.S. |
47 |
43 |
10 |
30 |
54 |
16 |
-17 |
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