US President George W. Bush, in a bitter showdown with the Democrat-majority Congress over Iraq, has crept up a speck from an all-time low in his job approval rating. But his standing is the weakest of any second-term president at this point in 56 years.
The numbers in the latest AP-Ipsos poll gave the White House little reason for cheer as Bush opened a weeklong visit to Latin America to bolster US influence in the face of rising anti-American sentiment.
Weighed down by the unpopular war in Iraq, which is about to begin its fifth year, and opposition to his decision to send more troops into combat, Bush had an approval rating of 35 percent in early March. Still, that was up from 32 percent last month when his rating was tied for an all-time low in AP-Ipsos polling.
It now stands where it was in mid-January and in a range of where it was for most of last year.
Seizing on voters' frustration with the war, House Democrats challenged Bush with legislation Thursday requiring the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq by October next year. It would mark the first time the new Democratic-controlled Congress has established a date certain for the end of US combat.
The White House was quick to say Bush would veto the measure.
"It would unnecessarily handcuff our generals on the ground, and it's safe to say it's a non-starter for the president," presidential counselor Dan Bartlett said.
Bush's approval rating has not gotten above the 50 percent mark in AP-Ipsos polling since December 2004. Gallup has been tracking a similar job approval measure for presidents since the 1930s.
By Gallup's measure, Bush's numbers are the lowest for any president in the third March of his second term since Harry Truman in March 1951, when his approval rating was 28 percent.
The comparable numbers for other second-term presidents at this point were: Clinton 65 percent in March 1999, Reagan 45 percent in March 1987, Johnson 46 percent in March 1967 and Eisenhower 50 percent in March 1959.
Across the board, Bush's approval rating on a range of issues remained essentially changed from last month. Handling the economy was 41 percent, handling domestic issues was 37 percent, handling foreign policy issues and the war on terror was 38 percent and handing the situation in Iraq, 32 percent.
The only groups that noticeably increased their approval of Bush were women over 45 years of age, whose approval rating climbed 10 points to 33 percent compared with last month, and investors with family incomes between US$25,000 to US$50,000, whose approval rating climbed 11 points to 29 percent.
Bush also gained support among people living around the Great Lakes, where the approval rating jumped 12 points to 40 percent, and in Great Plains and Mountain States, where it was up 10 points to 36 percent.
The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,000 adults was conducted March 5-7. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so