Rasmussen Poll:

President Bush Job Approval
Friday, June 01, 2007

During the month of May, President George W. Bush’s Job Approval rating fell to the lowest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports--36%. That’s down a full three points from April’s 39% which had previously been the lowest rating for the President.

During the full month of May, just 16% Strongly Approved of the way the President has performed his role and 45% Strongly Disapproved. Both those figures are also the worst ever recorded for the President who lost ground across all partisan and demographic groups. (see comments on comparing data from different firms).

Additionally, during the month of May, the number of people identifying themselves as Republicans fell once again to a new low—30.8%. However, the number of Democrats also fell again and now rests at the lowest level in seventeen months.

The rising number of unaffiliated voters may add fuel to the rumors about Michael Bloomberg’s possible independent bid for the White House. Twenty-seven percent (27%) of all voters say they’re somewhat or very likely to vote for Bloomberg. If he could win a few states, Bloomberg might create Electoral Chaos and create a deadlock in both the Electoral College and the House of Representatives.

Turning to more conventional candidates, movie star turned Senator turned TV actor Fred Thompson is competitive in the polls as he prepares to enter the race. Thompson is currently fourth in polling for the Republican Presidential nomination.

Senator Hillary Clinton leads Thompson by just three points in a general election match-up but she remains the clear frontrunner for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Rasmussen Reports continuously updates general election match-ups for all Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates along with ratings for Members of Congress, Other Political Figures, and Journalists.

Just 16% of voters believe the immigration bill working its way through Congress will actually reduce illegal immigration. Even if the bill were to become law, the pressure for additional reform something is likely to continue.

Rasmussen Reports updates the President’s Job Approval ratings on a daily basis. These ratings are based upon nightly telephone interviews with 500 adults and are reported on a three-day rolling average basis. During the month of May, the President’s Job Approval slipped as low as 33% on a daily update. Daily updates are useful for measuring reaction to specific news events (the President’s Job Approval always declines when immigration reform dominates the news). Full-month results, based upon interviews with 15,000 adults, are better for measuring long-term trends. (see demographic trend data).

Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large. Among other targets, Rasmussen Reports weights data by political party affiliation using a dynamic weighting process. Our targets are established based upon survey interviews completed during the preceding three months (a total of 45,000 interviews). For the month of June, the targets are 36.7% Democrat, 31.1% Republican, and 32.2% Unaffiliated with Either Major Party. Those targets are little changed from last month (see month to month party affiliation trends).

In addition to tracking the President’s Job Approval on a daily basis, Rasmussen Reports regularly tracks public attitudes towards Congress, the War on Terror, and other topics. Results for the Generic Congressional Ballot are updated monthly and current events topics are released on the Rasmussen home page.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... b_approval