Fox poll: Bush heading south

That didn't take long. Bush's war bounce is already on the wane:

The latest FOX News poll of American voters, conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corporation on April 22-23, finds the president’s overall job rating has dipped slightly in the last two weeks as fighting in Iraq winds down. Bush’s current rating is 65 percent, down from 71 percent in early April and 66 percent shortly after the war commenced (March 25-26). The president’s wartime ratings failed to reach the level of his post-9/11 rally when ratings over 80 percent were the norm for six months.

Compared to polling conducted earlier this month, President Bush’s approval rating among Republicans holds steady at 94 percent, but loses ground with Democrats (from 45 percent to 38 percent) and women (from 67 percent to 58 percent) [...]

Beyond the job rating, another signal the wartime bounce may be short lived is President Bush’s re-elect numbers, which have also dipped. Today, 47 percent say if the 2004 election were held today they would vote to re-elect Bush and 31 percent for the Democratic candidate. That is a small decline from polling conducted in early April, when 51 percent said they would vote for Bush and 26 percent favored the Democrat.

When asked which issue will matter most in their vote, respondents clearly choose the economy over Iraq. More than six times as many voters say the candidate’s position on the economy and taxes will matter most in deciding their vote for president and Congress, as say the candidate’s position on war with Iraq will be most important (65 percent to 10 percent). Fifteen percent say Iraq and the economy will be equal factors in their vote.

Despite the economy being the more important factor, the candidate’s position on war with Iraq will be a factor in voters’ decision making. A majority (55 percent) says they will be less likely to vote for a candidate who opposed the war in Iraq, and 20 percent say more likely (14 percent say it will make no difference to their vote if a candidate opposed the war).

So there you have it. It's just one poll, but given it's a Fox poll, it feels kind of nice. I can't wait for the other major polling outfits to chime in with their post-war numbers for Bush.

Posted April 29, 2003 12:48 AM | Comments (102)