"Uncharacteristically, the president's ratings have slipped most among his core constituents — Republicans and conservatives,"

Katrina damages

Bush in two polls

By Richard Keil and Brendan Murray

Bloomberg News
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Two new polls show Americans give President Bush poor marks for his handling of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, with one survey showing that Bush is now losing support even among his Republican base.

Both polls contain additional bad news for Bush. A poll by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press gives him an overall job approval rating of 40 percent, down 10 percent since January, and a disapproval rating of 52 percent, among the highest of his presidency.

Bush's job approval rating was 41 percent in a Zogby America poll, the lowest in that poll's history, and 53 percent of those questioned said the nation is headed in the "wrong direction."

The surveys were conducted in the week after the hurricane's assault on the Gulf Coast and show that support for the president, at near-

record lows before the storm, fell further amid anger over the federal government's response.

"Americans are depressed, angry and very worried about the economic consequences of the disaster," Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew poll, told Reuters.

"Uncharacteristically, the president's ratings have slipped most among his core constituents — Republicans and conservatives," Kohut wrote in an e-mail.

In the Pew survey, 67 percent of 1,000 adults interviewed by telephone Tuesday and Wednesday said Bush could have done more to speed up relief efforts; 28 percent said he did everything possible.

Hurricane Katrina produced a "major shift in public priorities," according to Pew. For the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a majority of Americans now believe it is more important for the president to focus on domestic issues than the war on terrorism.

When asked what should be a priority for the president, 56 percent said "domestic policy," an increase of 16 percentage points since January. Twenty-five percent said Bush's top priority should be fighting terrorism, a 19-point decline from January.