Bush approval ratings hit new low in California
Poll reflects growing discontent with president, Congress

Washington -- President Bush's job approval ratings have fallen to a new low among California voters, as Republicans once loyal to the commander-in-chief are abandoning him over issues from the Iraq war to immigration to runaway federal spending, according to a Field Poll released today.

Even as Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has seen his ratings start to rebound among state voters, 28 percent of Californians now approve of the job Bush is doing, while 65 percent of state voters disapprove.

"We're in uncharted waters," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. "All previous presidents who have dipped this low either resigned from office shortly thereafter or were voted out of office. Here we have a president who will be with us for 2 1/2 more years.

"The question is, can a president who has reached those depths reconnect with voters and turn those ratings around? I've never seen it done before because we've never had it happen before."

Historically, Bush's ranking is just shy of the worst-ever approval rating given to a president by California voters -- 24 percent for President Richard Nixon in August 1974, just before he resigned from office.

Californians have an even more dismal view of Congress: 23 percent of state voters approve of the job Washington lawmakers are doing, while 64 percent disapprove.

The poll reflects a generally grumpy mood among Californians, a result of the violence in Iraq, high gas prices and a sense of economic uncertainty. Nearly two-thirds of voters in the new poll said they believe America is on the wrong track.

"I've always thought the war was the biggest factor. ... It's that slow drip, drip, drip that contributes more and more to a malaise and a feeling of discontent," DiCamillo said.

"In California, the issue of immigration is very divisive. The president can't even seem to get consensus in his own party. There is a lot of skepticism about whether he can get a bill through Congress, and the weakened presidency is not helping. Because of Bush's low opinion ratings, he's having a hard time exerting any political capital. There's not much left."

Bush's numbers in California have dropped since April, when the same poll found that 32 percent of voters approved of his job performance and 62 percent disapproved.

Bush's once-reliable base of conservative supporters, which catapulted him into a second term, appears to be eroding quickly. A year ago, 71 percent of California Republicans approved of his performance and 19 percent disapproved.

In the new poll, 59 percent of state Republicans approve of Bush's job performance, while 33 percent disapprove.

"The question is, how much lower can it go? How many more Republicans will defect from this president?" DiCamillo said.

In the Bay Area, 16 percent of voters support Bush's job performance, while 77 percent do not. The president fared slightly better in Los Angeles County (25 percent approve), other parts of Southern California (33 percent approve), other parts of Northern California (31 percent approve) and the Central Valley (39 percent approve.)

The president's poll numbers are not much better nationwide. A Harris Poll last month put his job approval rating at 29 percent. A Fox News poll conducted last month by Opinion Dynamics placed his job performance rating at 35 percent.

Bush also is faring poorly in "red" states that supported him in the 2004 election. The Ohio Poll, conducted by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati and released Friday, found that Bush's rating among Buckeye State voters was at 35 percent, the lowest for any president since the poll began in 1981.

While the Republican president continues to lose support, California's Republican governor has significantly improved his image in recent months -- and is now viewed favorably and unfavorably by an equal number, 46 percent of state voters. Facing a tough re-election in November, he is likely to continue his efforts to distance himself from an unpopular president.

"I think the governor will keep the president at arm's length and may attempt to choose issues that clearly separate himself from the president -- it could be the environment, it could even be on immigration policy," DiCamillo said.

Only one California politician has reason to smile about the new poll results: Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Despite their generally low opinion of elected officials in Washington, state voters appear likely to support Feinstein's re-election this fall. The poll found her with 54 percent support among likely voters to 28 percent for her Republican opponent, former state Sen. Richard Mountjoy.

"She seems to kind of embody the majority opinion in California," DiCamillo said. "I've always thought Feinstein has benefited from the fact that she has the junior senator, Barbara Boxer, who can take more strident, ideological positions that make Feinstein, a Democrat from San Francisco, appear to be the more diplomatic, more moderate and less ideological senator."

The poll of 986 California adults was conducted May 23-31, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. The survey results of 702 likely voters for the Feinstein-Mountjoy race have a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

E-mail Zachary Coile at zcoile@sfchronicle.com.

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