Bush's support wanes

From: Reuters
By: John Whitesides in Washington
May 12, 2006

EVEN US conservatives are losing faith in President George W. Bush now, putting Republican control of Congress at risk in November's midterm elections.

Six months before voters decide the balance of power in Congress, an increasingly gloomy and anxious electorate has become disenchanted with Mr Bush and grown more pessimistic about the Iraq war, gas prices and the country's future, according to a flurry of recent polls.
More than two-thirds of the American public thinks the country is on the wrong track and voters prefer Democrats to Republicans by double-digits margins. Mr Bush's job approval rating has reached a low for his presidency of 31 per cent.

Throughout Mr Bush's five-year presidency, conservatives have remained remarkably faithful. But the latest polls suggest that is no longer true.

A Gallup poll this week found just 52 per cent of conservatives and 68 per cent of Republicans approved of Mr Bush's performance, record lows for both.

Polls also show Democratic voters are more motivated and enthusiastic about November's election, a reversal of the political mood in 1994 when Republicans swept to victory and took control of both houses of Congress

"Unless they can find a way to inspire some enthusiasm among voters, Republicans are toast. This is a very serious erosion of support," said Karlyn Bowman, a poll analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
"If things keep going as they are, the Republicans are in enormous trouble in November," she said.

News Limited
May 12, 2006