Bush Support Falling Among Older Voters

Overall support for President George W. Bush is still strong among older and younger voters, but on aspects of job approval not related to foreign affairs he is faring much worse, especially among voters age 50 and older, according to the Ipsos-Public Affairs/Cook Political Report Poll.

Historically, the attitudes of voters age 50 and older are particularly important because voter turnout increases dramatically.

Asked about overall views of Bush's presidency, 59% of registered voters said they approved of the way he is handling his job - the figure is 55% among Americans age 50 or older. However, looking at Bush's handling of the economy, barely half (50%) of all adult Americans still approve, and among respondents age 50 and older a majority now disapprove.

On domestic issues like health care, education, the environment and energy, a majority of Americans age 50 or older currently disapprove of Bush's performance. The overall net change from the peak during the war in Iraq to the present is -13%.

Ipsos-Public Affairs interviewed a representative sample of 2,000 adult Americans nationwide between June 17-19 2003, and July 8-10, 2003, for the Cook Political Report. The 2,000 included 1,531 registered voters. The Web site of Ipsos-Public Affairs is at www.ipsos-pa.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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