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January 19, 2009
Republicans Give George W. Bush's Overall Job Approval Rating A Final Boost
George
W. Bush's last American Research Group monthly overall job
approval rating is at 38% as 78% of Republicans now say they approve of the way Bush is handling
his job, compared to 41% of Republicans in December approving according
to the
latest survey
from the American Research
Group. Among all Americans, 38% approve of the way
Bush is
handling his job as president and 54% disapprove. When it comes
to Bush's handling of the economy, 31% approve and 58% disapprove.
Among
Americans registered to vote, 38% approve
of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 53% disapprove.
When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy,
31% of registered voters approve of the way Bush is handling
the economy and 57% disapprove. A total of 80% of Americans
say the national economy is in a recession, with 95% of those disapproving of the way Bush is handling his job saying the national economy is in a
recession.
The
results
presented here
are based on
1,100 completed telephone interviews conducted among a nationwide
random sample of adults 18
years and older. The interviews were completed January 15
through 18, 2009. The theoretical
margin of error for the total sample is plus or minus 2.6 percentage
points, 95% of the time,
on questions where opinion is evenly split.
Overall, 38% of Americans say that they
approve of the way George W.
Bush is handling his job as president, 54% disapprove, and
8% are undecided.
|
Bush job approval
|
Approve
|
Disapprove
|
Undecided
|
|
| Jan 09 |
38% |
54% |
8% |
| Dec
2008 |
28% |
67% |
5% |
| Nov 2008 |
26% |
67% |
7% |
| Oct
2008 |
20% |
75% |
5% |
| Sep 2008 |
19% |
76% |
5% |
| Aug
2008 |
30% |
64% |
6% |
| Jul 2008 |
21% |
72% |
7% |
| Jun
2008 |
25% |
71% |
4% |
| May 2008 |
28% |
69% |
3% |
| Apr
2008 |
22% |
72% |
6% |
| Mar 2008 |
24% |
75% |
1% |
| Feb
2008 |
19% |
77% |
4% |
| Jan 2008 |
34% |
59% |
7% |
Among Republicans (34% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 78%
approve of the way Bush is handling his job and 13% disapprove.
Among Democrats (44% of adults registered to vote in the survey),
17% approve
and 76% disapprove of the way
Bush is handling
his job. Among independents (22% of adults registered to vote
in the survey), 17%
approve and 67% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his
job as president.
Overall, 24% of Americans
say that they
approve
of the way George W. Bush is handling the economy, 72% disapprove,
and 4% are undecided.
Among registered voters, 23% approve and 73% disapprove
of
the way Bush is handling the economy.
|
Bush handling the economy
|
Approve
|
Disapprove
|
Undecided
|
|
| Jan 09 |
31% |
58% |
11% |
| Dec 2008 |
24% |
72% |
4% |
| Nov 2008 |
23% |
70% |
7% |
| Oct 2008 |
20% |
77% |
3% |
| Sep 2008 |
17% |
78% |
5% |
| Aug 2008 |
25% |
69% |
6% |
| Jul 2008 |
17% |
77% |
6% |
| Jun 2008 |
23% |
73% |
4% |
| May 2008 |
23% |
71% |
6% |
| Apr 2008 |
22% |
73% |
5% |
| Mar 2008 |
18% |
80% |
2% |
| Feb 2008 |
14% |
79% |
7% |
| Jan 2008 |
29% |
63% |
8% |
Among Republicans, 74% approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and
17% disapprove. Among
Democrats, 83% disapprove of the way Bush is handling the economy
and 7% approve.
Among independents, 11% approve and 67%
disapprove of the way Bush is handling the economy.
A total of 3% of Americans say that the national
economy is
getting
better, 32% say it is staying the same, and 59% say
the national economy is getting worse.
|
National economy |
Getting better |
Staying the same |
Getting worse |
Undecided |
|
| Jan 09 |
3% |
32% |
59% |
6% |
| Dec 2008 |
9% |
28% |
59% |
4% |
| Nov 2008 |
15% |
18% |
65% |
2% |
| Oct 2008 |
6% |
26% |
54% |
14% |
| Sep 2008 |
- |
13% |
82% |
5% |
| Aug 2008 |
18% |
19% |
60% |
3% |
| Jul 2008 |
3% |
20% |
76% |
1% |
| Jun 2008 |
7% |
18% |
73% |
2% |
| May 2008 |
11% |
18% |
70% |
1% |
| Apr 2008 |
8% |
14% |
77% |
1% |
| Mar 2008 |
4% |
9% |
86% |
1% |
| Feb 2008 |
1% |
20% |
78% |
1% |
| Jan 2008 |
8% |
22% |
64% |
6% |
Among those saying they approve of the way Bush
is handling his job, 4% say getting better, 54% say staying
the same, and 32% say getting worse. Of those saying
they
disapprove of the way Bush
is handling his job, 3% say getting better, 14% say staying
the same, and 81% say getting worse.
A total
of 49% of Americans say they believe
the national economy will be better a year from now, 28% say
it will be the same, 20% say
it will be worse, and 3% are undecided.
|
National economy a year from now |
Better than today |
The same as today |
Worse than today |
Undecided |
|
| Jan 09 |
49% |
28% |
20% |
3% |
| Dec 2008 |
59% |
22% |
14% |
5% |
| Nov 2008 |
54% |
27% |
17% |
2% |
| Oct 2008 |
56% |
21% |
20% |
3% |
| Sep 2008 |
42% |
27% |
13% |
18% |
| Aug 2008 |
31% |
34% |
28% |
7% |
| Jul 2008 |
29% |
17% |
39% |
15% |
| Jun 2008 |
24% |
31% |
39% |
6% |
| May 2008 |
51% |
16% |
26% |
7% |
| Apr 2008 |
31% |
27% |
33% |
9% |
| Mar 2008 |
48% |
19% |
29% |
4% |
| Feb 2008 |
42% |
30% |
27% |
1% |
| Jan 2008 |
32% |
35% |
21% |
12% |
Among those saying they approve of the way Bush is handling his job, 45% say better,
38%
say the same as today, and 14% say worse than today.
Among those saying they disapprove of the way Bush is handling
his job as president, 49% say better, 24% say the same, and
24%
say worse.
Overall, 80% of Americans say they believe
that the national economy
is in a recession, 13% say they
do
not believe the economy is in
a recession, and 7% are undecided.
| National economy in a recession
|
Yes
|
No
|
Undecided
|
|
| Jan 09 |
80% |
13% |
7% |
| Dec 2008 |
76% |
9% |
15% |
| Nov 2008 |
74% |
13% |
13% |
| Oct 2008 |
54% |
10% |
36% |
| Sep 2008 |
68% |
28% |
4% |
| Aug 2008 |
58% |
30% |
12% |
| Jul 2008 |
68% |
15% |
17% |
| Jun 2008 |
52% |
22% |
26% |
| May 2008 |
57% |
25% |
18% |
| Apr 2008 |
68% |
18% |
14% |
| Mar 2008 |
66% |
12% |
22% |
| Feb 2008 |
47% |
29% |
24% |
| Jan 2008 |
35% |
24% |
41% |
Among those saying they approve of the way Bush
is handling his job, 60% say the national economy is in a
recession and 30% say the national economy is not in
a recession.
Of those saying they disapprove of the way Bush is handling
his job, 95% say the national economy
is in a recession and 3% say the national economy is not
in
a recession.
A
total of 16% of Americans rate
the national economy as excellent, very good, or good and 83%
rate it as
bad, very bad, or terrible.
|
National economy |
Excellent |
Very good |
Good |
Bad |
Very bad |
Terrible |
Undecided |
|
| Jan 09 |
1% |
3% |
12% |
35% |
16% |
32% |
1% |
| Dec 2008 |
3% |
2% |
8% |
34% |
18% |
34% |
1% |
| Nov 2008 |
1% |
1% |
16% |
26% |
19% |
36% |
1% |
| Oct 2008 |
2% |
2% |
16% |
50% |
11% |
18% |
1% |
| Sep 2008 |
2% |
4% |
12% |
10% |
7% |
64% |
1% |
| Aug 2008 |
8% |
12% |
22% |
24% |
11% |
22% |
1% |
| Jul 2008 |
3% |
3% |
18% |
34% |
29% |
12% |
1% |
| Jun 2008 |
2% |
4% |
18% |
28% |
23% |
24% |
1% |
| May 2008 |
1% |
8% |
21% |
24% |
12% |
33% |
1% |
| Apr 2008 |
1% |
3% |
16% |
20% |
13% |
46% |
1% |
| Mar 2008 |
1% |
4% |
16% |
10% |
26% |
42% |
1% |
| Feb 2008 |
1% |
7% |
17% |
44% |
10% |
20% |
1% |
| Jan 2008 |
2% |
14% |
27% |
21% |
17% |
18% |
1% |
Among those saying they approve of the way Bush
is handling his job, 34% say excellent, very good, or good
and 65% say bad, very bad, or terrible.
Among
those saying they
disapprove of the way Bush
is handling his job, 94% say bad, very bad, or terrible and
5% say excellent, very good, or good.
When
it comes to rating their household
financial situations, 67% of Americans give an excellent, very
good, or good rating and 32%
give a bad, very bad, or terrible rating.
|
Household financial situation |
Excellent |
Very good |
Good |
Bad |
Very bad |
Terrible |
Undecided |
|
| Jan 09 |
1% |
20% |
46% |
24% |
6% |
2% |
1% |
| Dec 2008 |
4% |
10% |
51% |
19% |
7% |
8% |
1% |
| Nov 2008 |
7% |
13% |
37% |
29% |
4% |
9% |
1% |
| Oct 2008 |
10% |
5% |
31% |
28% |
22% |
3% |
1% |
| Sep 2008 |
9% |
9% |
39% |
26% |
15% |
2% |
- |
| Aug 2008 |
11% |
20% |
39% |
17% |
6% |
6% |
1% |
| Jul 2008 |
6% |
7% |
44% |
24% |
17% |
1% |
1% |
| Jun 2008 |
2% |
11% |
42% |
34% |
3% |
7% |
1% |
| May 2008 |
4% |
17% |
38% |
27% |
7% |
6% |
1% |
| Apr 2008 |
8% |
12% |
37% |
18% |
11% |
13% |
1% |
| Mar 2008 |
9% |
22% |
33% |
17% |
16% |
2% |
1% |
| Feb 2008 |
6% |
17% |
36% |
22% |
11% |
7% |
1% |
| Jan 2008 |
12% |
13% |
45% |
15% |
6% |
8% |
1% |
Among those saying they approve of the way Bush
is handling his job, 83% say excellent, very good, or good
and 16% say bad, very bad, or terrible.
Among those saying they disapprove
of the way Bush is handling his job, 54% say very
good,
or good and 45% say
bad, very bad, or terrible.
A total of 2% of Americans say
they think the financial situations
in their households are getting better, 54% say staying the
same, and 43% say getting worse.
|
Household financial situation |
Getting better |
Staying the same |
Getting worse |
Undecided |
|
| Jan
2009 |
2% |
54% |
43% |
1% |
| Dec 2008 |
5% |
50% |
41% |
4% |
| Nov 2008 |
10% |
35% |
51% |
4% |
| Oct 2008 |
5% |
47% |
32% |
16% |
| Sep 2008 |
- |
56% |
42% |
2% |
| Aug 2008 |
19% |
42% |
36% |
3% |
| Jul 2008 |
7% |
31% |
61% |
1% |
| Jun 2008 |
4% |
40% |
55% |
1% |
| May 2008 |
13% |
42% |
43% |
2% |
| Apr 2008 |
6% |
39% |
54% |
1% |
| Mar 2008 |
7% |
46% |
46% |
1% |
| Feb 2008 |
8% |
45% |
41% |
6% |
| Jan 2008 |
22% |
25% |
49% |
4% |
Among those saying they approve of the way Bush
is handling his job, none say getting better, 82% say staying
the same, and 18% say getting worse. Among those saying
they disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job, 4% say
getting better, 36% say
staying the same, and 59% say getting worse.
Looking
to a year from now, 38%
of Americans say that they think their household financial
situations will be better than today, 45% say the same as today,
and 12% say worse than today.
|
Household financial situation a year from now |
Better than today |
The same as today |
Worse than today |
Undecided |
|
| Jan 09 |
38% |
45% |
12% |
5% |
| Dec 2008 |
36% |
44% |
15% |
5% |
| Nov 2008 |
40% |
34% |
21% |
5% |
| Oct 2008 |
26% |
43% |
15% |
16% |
| Sep 2008 |
39% |
37% |
15% |
9% |
| Aug 2008 |
30% |
42% |
24% |
4% |
| Jul 2008 |
17% |
41% |
30% |
12% |
| Jun 2008 |
21% |
34% |
37% |
8% |
| May 2008 |
26% |
49% |
16% |
9% |
| Apr 2008 |
19% |
31% |
37% |
13% |
| Mar 2008 |
31% |
41% |
25% |
3% |
| Feb 2008 |
17% |
52% |
25% |
6% |
| Jan 2008 |
28% |
41% |
24% |
7% |
Among those saying they approve of the way Bush
is handling his job, 31% say better than today, 56% say
the same as today, and 4% say worse than today. Among those
saying they disapprove of the
way
Bush is handling his job, 42% say better than today, 41%
say
the same as today, and 16% say worse than today.
About this Survey -
Survey Sponsor: American Research Group, Inc. The American Research Group has been conducting national surveys of consumers since 1985. Sample
Size: 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of all adults age 18 and older
living in telephone households in the continental United States. Sample
Dates: January 15-18, 2009 Margin of Error: ± 3 percentage points, 95% of the time, on questions where opinion is evenly split. Question Wording: How do you rate the condition of the national economy these days - would you say it is excellent, very good, good, bad, very bad, or terrible? Do you think the national economy is getting better, staying the same, or getting worse? Would you say that the national economy is in a recession, or not? A year from now, do you expect the national economy to be better than it is today, the same as it is today, or worse than it is today? How do you rate the condition of the financial
situation in your household - would you say it is excellent, very good, good, bad, very bad,
or terrible? Do you think the financial situation in your household is getting better, staying the same, or getting worse? A year from now, do you expect the financial situation in your household to be better than it is today, the same as it is today, or worse than it is today? Do you approve or disapprove of the way George
W. Bush is handling his job as president? Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling the economy? |
