Bush Approval Hits All-time Low in Florida

The lingering war in Iraq has dragged down the president's popularity rating in Florida and is not helping 2008 Republican candidates.

November 12, 2007

BY LESLEY CLARK AND BREANNE GILPATRICK
lclark@MiamiHerald.com

Florida twice put President Bush into the White House, but a new poll shows him hitting an all-time low among voters in the nation's most populous swing state.

The survey shows that voters are troubled by Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, support withdrawing troops ''as quickly as possible,'' and are overwhelmingly convinced -- 68 percent -- that the country is on the wrong track.

Just 33 percent of the state's registered voters rated Bush's job performance ''excellent'' or ''good,'' and 50 percent called his handling of the situation in Iraq ''poor,'' according to the poll conducted for The Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post, the St. Petersburg Times and Bay News 9. The survey has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Voters, said Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who conducted the poll along with Democrat Rob Schroth, ''are in a very sour, pessimistic mood'' when it comes to the nation's fortunes.

Dampening the state's spirits appears to be Iraq: More than one in four of those surveyed said that ''managing the war in Iraq'' was the most important issue for the president and Congress to resolve.

Controlling illegal immigration came in a distant second -- but placed higher than the traditional hot-button issues of increasing access to healthcare and tackling terrorism. Other concerns trailed, including protecting Medicare and Social Security and lowering energy prices.

The poll points to a potential trouble spot for the Republicans who would like to succeed Bush and have largely sided with him on Iraq: Even a majority of voters in the traditionally conservative, military-friendly Panhandle support withdrawing troops from Iraq ''as quickly as possible in a safe and orderly manner.'' In South Florida, support for pulling troops out tops 66 percent.

That includes voters like Margaret Brown, 79, a Lighthouse Point resident and lifelong Republican voter, who said she doesn't support President Bush any longer. ''I'm totally against Bush and I'm against the Iraq War,'' said Brown, a poll respondent.

But the poll shows that voters are more evenly divided over the possibility of Bush using military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Forty-nine percent said they would oppose such an event; 43 percent said they would support the move. Support was highest among those who said they attend church ''very frequently'' or identified themselves as born-again Christians.

Conway noted that parents were more likely than nonparents to back military action against Iran, and ``as far as religion goes, those who attended church frequently were much more blood-curdlers.''

Shelden Minuskin, 61, an independent voter in Coconut Creek, said he supports Bush, particularly when it comes to thwarting terrorism. ''I back him,'' said Minuskin, a poll respondent. ``I don't want to see another 9/11.''

The Iraq War has been a central theme of the presidential primaries, with the Democrats offering pointed criticism of Bush's handling of the war and calling for eventual withdrawal of the troops.

The poll also suggests immigration has become a flash point for voters, with 14 percent declaring it the No. 1 issue the nation faces.

Navigating the issue could be trickier for Republicans: Illegal immigration was the top issue for Republican voters -- finishing ahead of the war in Iraq and preventing terrorism. Democratic pollster Tom Eldon noted that Republican candidates are now developing immigration strategies, cognizant of the need to ``appeal to primary voters and at the same time not offending the Hispanics they need to appeal to in a general election.''

But the poll suggests that Bush's support for overhauling the nation's immigration laws and giving some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship hasn't hurt him among those who consider immigration their No. 1 issue. Fifty-seven percent of those voters gave Bush either ''excellent'' or ''good'' marks for his job performance. Sixty percent of those who named Iraq as their No. 1 issue gave Bush a ''poor'' job performance rating.

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