Bush Job Approval at 50%

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new 优蜜传媒Poll shows a slight recovery in George W. Bush's job approval rating after hitting a low of 45% a few weeks ago during the height of the Terri Schiavo controversy. Other measures of national satisfaction appear to have stabilized at lower levels than where they were earlier this year. There has been some change in Americans' assessment of the most important problem facing the country compared with last month, as people have become more concerned about gas prices and less concerned about the Iraq war, though the latter issue remains atop the list.

Bush Job Approval

The April 4-7 poll shows half of Americans now approving of the job Bush is doing as president, while 45% disapprove. Roughly two weeks ago, Bush's job approval rating dipped to 45%, the lowest of his presidency to date, perhaps as a result of the federal government's involvement in the Schiavo case. A subsequent poll, conducted April 1-2, showed a slight recovery to 48%, which suggests that the fading of the Terri Schiavo case from the headlines may have helped Bush. Additionally, Pope John Paul II's funeral last week gave Bush a chance to fulfill a non-controversial presidential role as the representative of the U.S. government in attendance.

Bush's current 50% approval rating exactly matches his average over the past calendar year.

Approval Ratings for Congress and National Satisfaction

Two other key measures -- Congress' job approval and national satisfaction -- appear to have stabilized this month after showing a drop-off last month. Thirty-eight percent of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job, similar to a 37% rating in March. Before that, Congress' approval rating had not been below 40% since May 2000.

Thirty-eight percent of Americans are satisfied and 59% are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States. This is the same reading as in late March and lower than ratings from the beginning of this year.

Satisfaction ratings -- with a few exceptions -- have been above the 40% mark since late 1996. The recent lows were 36% ratings in May 2004 and early March 2003. Thus, the two most recent ratings are among the worst 优蜜传媒has measured in the past 10 years.

Most Important Problem

Gallup's monthly update on the most important problem shows increasing concern about gas prices and a slight lessening of concern about the war in Iraq. Overall, the most frequent specific problems mentioned are the war in Iraq (18%), the economy in general terms (12%), fuel/oil prices (9%), unemployment (8%), Social Security (8%), terrorism (8%), and healthcare (7%).

Concern about the Iraq war, despite continuing to top the list, is the lowest it has been in some time, perhaps because it has been overshadowed by other news stories in recent weeks. Last month, 25% said the war was the most important problem, compared with the current 18%. The last time fewer than 20% of Americans mentioned the Iraq war as the most important problem was over a year ago, in March 2004.

Last month, just 2% of Americans mentioned gas prices as the nation's top problem, compared with 9% now.

Generally speaking, the poll does suggest increasing concern about economic matters, most likely as a result of the rise in gas prices. Thirty-four percent of Americans mention some economic issue in their responses (including fuel/oil prices, the economy in general terms, unemployment, the federal budget deficit, taxes), compared with 28% in March and 29% in February.

Americans' perceptions of the national economy continue to remain quite negative, particularly when compared with earlier in the year. The latest poll finds only 32% rating current conditions as excellent or good, compared with 41% at the beginning of the year. By a 56% to 35% margin, Americans say the economy is getting worse rather than better, while in early January 48% said it was getting better and 42% said worse.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,010 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 4-7, 2005. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
2005
(NA) 2005 Apr 4-7	50	45	5
(NA) 2005 Apr 1-2	48	48	4
(NA) 2005 Mar 21-23	45	49	6
(NA) 2005 Mar 18-20	52	44	4
(NA) 2005 Mar 7-10	52	44	4
(NA) 2005 Feb 25-26	52	45	3
(NA) 2005 Feb 21-24	51	45	4
(NA) 2005 Feb 7-10	49	48	3
(NA) 2005 Feb 4-6	57	40	3
(NA) 2005 Jan 14-16	51	46	3
(NA) 2005 Jan 7-9	52	44	4
(NA) 2005 Jan 3-5	52	44	4
2004
(NA) 2004 Dec 17-19	49	46	5
(NA) 2004 Dec 5-8	53	44	3
(NA) 2004 Nov 19-21	55	42	3
(NA) 2004 Nov 7-10	53	44	3
(NA) 2004 Oct 29-31	48	47	5
(NA) 2004 Oct 22-24	51	46	3
(NA) 2004 Oct 14-16	51	47	2
(NA) 2004 Oct 11-14	48	49	3
(NA) 2004 Oct 9-10	47	49	4
(NA) 2004 Oct 1-3	50	48	2
(NA) 2004 Sep 24-26	54	44	2
(NA) 2004 Sep 13-15	52	45	3
(NA) 2004 Sep 3-5	52	46	2
(NA) 2004 Aug 23-25	49	47	4
(NA) 2004 Aug 9-11	51	46	3
(NA) 2004 Jul 30-Aug 1	48	49	3
(NA) 2004 Jul 19-21	49	47	4
(NA) 2004 Jul 8-11	47	49	4
(NA) 2004 Jun 21-23	48	49	3
(NA) 2004 Jun 3-6	49	49	2
(NA) 2004 May 21-23	47	49	4
(NA) 2004 May 7-9	46	51	3
(NA) 2004 May 2-4	49	48	3
(NA) 2004 Apr 16-18	52	45	3
(NA) 2004 Apr 5-8	52	45	3
(NA) 2004 Mar 26-28	53	44	3
(NA) 2004 Mar 8-11	50	47	3
(NA) 2004 Mar 5-7	49	48	3
(NA) 2004 Feb 16-17	51	46	3
(NA) 2004 Feb 9-12	51	46	3
(NA) 2004 Feb 6-8	52	44	4
(NA) 2004 Jan 29-Feb 1	49	48	3
(NA) 2004 Jan 12-15	53	44	3
(NA) 2004 Jan 9-11	59	38	3
(NA) 2004 Jan 2-5	60	35	5
2003
(NA) 2003 Dec 15-16	63	34	3
(NA) 2003 Dec 11-14	56	41	3
(NA) 2003 Dec 5-7	55	43	2
(NA) 2003 Nov 14-16	50	47	3
(NA) 2003 Nov 10-12	51	45	4
(NA) 2003 Nov 3-5	54	43	3
(NA) 2003 Oct 24-26	53	42	5
(NA) 2003 Oct 10-12	56	40	4
(NA) 2003 Oct 6-8	55	42	3
(NA) 2003 Sep 19-21	50	47	3
(NA) 2003 Sep 8-10	52	43	5
(NA) 2003 Aug 25-26	59	37	4
(NA) 2003 Aug 4-6	60	36	4
(NA) 2003 Jul 25-27	58	38	4
(NA) 2003 Jul 18-20	59	38	3
(NA) 2003 Jul 7-9	62	34	4
(NA) 2003 Jun 27-29	61	36	3
(NA) 2003 Jun 12-15	63	33	4
(NA) 2003 Jun 9-10	62	34	4
(NA) 2003 May 30-Jun 1	64	32	4
(NA) 2003 May 19-21	66	30	4
(NA) 2003 May 5-7	69	28	3
(NA) 2003 Apr 22-23	70	26	4
(NA) 2003 Apr 14-16	71	24	5
(NA) 2003 Apr 7-9	69	26	5
(NA) 2003 Apr 5-6	70	27	3
(NA) 2003 Mar 29-30	71	26	3
(NA) 2003 Mar 24-25	69	27	4
(NA) 2003 Mar 22-23	71	25	4
(NA) 2003 Mar 14-15	58	38	4
(NA) 2003 Mar 3-5	57	37	6
(NA) 2003 Feb 24-26	57	37	6
(NA) 2003 Feb 17-19	58	37	5
(NA) 2003 Feb 7-9	61	34	5
(NA) 2003 Feb 3-6	59	35	6
(NA) 2003 Jan 31-Feb 2	61	35	4
(NA) 2003 Jan 23-25	60	36	4
(NA) 2003 Jan 20-22	58	36	6
(NA) 2003 Jan 13-16	61	34	5
(NA) 2003 Jan 10-12	58	37	5
(NA) 2003 Jan 3-5	63	32	5
2002
(NA) 2002 Dec 19-22	61	32	7
(NA) 2002 Dec 16-17	63	33	4
(NA) 2002 Dec 9-10	63	32	5
(NA) 2002 Dec 5-8	64	29	7
(NA) 2002 Nov 22-24	65	28	7
(NA) 2002 Nov 11-14	66	26	8
(NA) 2002 Nov 8-10	68	27	5
(NA) 2002 Oct 31-Nov 3	63	29	8
(NA) 2002 Oct 21-22	67	28	5
(NA) 2002 Oct 14-17	62	31	7
(NA) 2002 Oct 3-6	67	28	5
(NA) 2002 Sep 23-26	68	26	6
(NA) 2002 Sep 20-22	66	30	4
(NA) 2002 Sep 13-16	70	26	4
(NA) 2002 Sep 5-8	66	30	4
(NA) 2002 Sep 2-4	66	29	5
(NA) 2002 Aug 19-21	65	28	7
(NA) 2002 Aug 5-8	68	26	6
(NA) 2002 Jul 29-31	71	23	6
(NA) 2002 Jul 26-28	69	26	5
(NA) 2002 Jul 22-24	69	24	7
(NA) 2002 Jul 9-11	73	21	6
(NA) 2002 Jul 5-8	76	18	6
(NA) 2002 Jun 28-30	76	19	5
(NA) 2002 Jun 21-23	73	21	6
(NA) 2002 Jun 17-19	74	20	6
(NA) 2002 Jun 7-8	74	18	8
(NA) 2002 Jun 3-6	70	23	7
(NA) 2002 May 28-29	77	17	6
(NA) 2002 May 20-22	76	17	7
(NA) 2002 May 6-9	76	19	5
(NA) 2002 Apr 29-May 1	77	20	3
(NA) 2002 Apr 22-24	77	17	6
(NA) 2002 Apr 8-11	75	20	5
(NA) 2002 Apr 5-7	76	19	5
(NA) 2002 Mar 22-24	79	17	4
(NA) 2002 Mar 18-20	79	16	5
(NA) 2002 Mar 8-9	80	14	6
(NA) 2002 Mar 4-7	77	18	5
(NA) 2002 Mar 1-3	81	14	5
(NA) 2002 Feb 8-10	82	14	4
(NA) 2002 Feb 4-6	82	14	4
(NA) 2002 Jan 25-27	84	13	3
(NA) 2002 Jan 11-14	83	13	4
(NA) 2002 Jan 7-9	84	12	4
2001
(NA) 2001 Dec 14-16	86	11	3
(NA) 2001 Dec 6-9	86	10	4
(NA) 2001 Nov 26-27	87	8	5
(NA) 2001 Nov 8-11	87	9	4
(NA) 2001 Nov 2-4	87	9	4
(NA) 2001 Oct 19-21	88	9	3
(NA) 2001 Oct 11-14	89	8	3
(NA) 2001 Oct 5-6	87	10	3
(NA) 2001 Sep 21-22	90	6	4
(NA) 2001 Sep 14-15	86	10	4
(NA) 2001 Sep 7-10	51	39	10
(NA) 2001 Aug 24-26	55	36	9
(NA) 2001 Aug 16-19	57	34	9
(NA) 2001 Aug 10-12	57	35	8
(NA) 2001 Aug 3-5	55	35	10
(NA) 2001 Jul 19-22	56	33	11
(NA) 2001 Jul 10-11	57	35	8
(NA) 2001 Jun 28-Jul 1	52	34	14
(NA) 2001 Jun 11-17	55	33	12
(NA) 2001 Jun 8-10	55	35	10
(NA) 2001 May 18-20	56	36	8
(NA) 2001 May 10-14	56	31	13
(NA) 2001 May 7-9	53	33	14
(NA) 2001 Apr 20-22	62	29	9
(NA) 2001 Apr 6-8	59	30	11
(NA) 2001 Mar 26-28	53	29	18
(NA) 2001 Mar 9-11	58	29	13
(NA) 2001 Mar 5-7	63	22	15
(NA) 2001 Feb 19-21	62	21	17
(NA) 2001 Feb 9-11	57	25	18
(NA) 2001 Feb 1-4	57	25	18

2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
2005
2005 Apr 4-7	38	54	8
2005 Mar 7-10	37	53	10
2005 Feb 7-10	45	48	7
2005 Jan 3-5	43	48	9
2004
2004 Dec 5-8	41	50	9
2004 Nov 7-10	41	52	7
2004 Oct 11-14	40	51	9
2004 Sep 13-15	41	52	7
2004 Aug 9-11	40	52	8
2004 Jul 8-11	40	53	7
2004 Jun 3-6	41	52	7
2004 May 2-4	41	52	7
2004 Apr 5-8	43	51	6
2004 Mar 8-11	42	51	7
2004 Feb 9-12	41	51	8
2004 Jan 12-15	48	45	7
2003
2003 Dec 11-14	43	50	7
2003 Nov 3-5	43	51	6
2003 Oct 6-8	41	51	8
2003 Sep 8-10	40	53	7
2003 Aug 4-6	45	46	9
2003 Jul 7-9	49	45	6
2003 Jun 12-15	50	41	9
2003 May 5-7	49	44	7
2003 Apr 7-9	58	33	9
2003 Mar 3-5	48	44	8
2003 Feb 3-6	50	39	11
2003 Jan 13-16	49	40	11
2002
2002 Dec 5-8	50	40	10
2002 Nov 11-14	47	39	14
2002 Oct 3-6	50	40	10
2002 Sep 5-8	52	40	8
2002 Aug 5-8	46	43	11
2002 Jul 26-28	53	36	11
2002 Jul 9-11	54	36	10
2002 Jun 3-6	52	38	10
2002 May 6-9	57	33	10
2002 Apr 8-11	57	34	9
2002 Mar 4-7	63	28	9
2002 Feb 4-6	62	28	10
2002 Jan 7-9	62	29	9
2001
2001 Dec 6-9	72	19	9
2001 Nov 8-11	73	19	8
2001 Oct 11-14	84	10	6
2001 Sep 7-10	42	44	14
2001 Aug 16-19	50	37	13
2001 Aug 3-5	47	42	11
2001 Jul 19-22	49	37	14
2001 Jun 11-17	51	34	15
2001 May 10-14	49	34	17
2001 Apr 6-8	55	32	13
2001 Mar 5-7	55	28	17
2001 Feb 1-4	53	32	15
2001 Jan 10-14	50	40	10
2000
2000 Dec 2-4	56	34	10
2000 Oct 6-9	49	42	9
2000 Aug 29-Sep 5	48	42	10
2000 May 18-21	39	52	9
2000 Jan 7-10	51	42	7
1999
1999 Sep 23-26	37	56	7
1999 Jul 13-14	39	51	10
1999 Jun 11-13	41	53	6
1999 Apr 13-14	45	47	8
1999 Feb 12-13	41	54	5
1999 Jan 15-17	50	46	4
1998
1998 Dec 15-16	42	52	6
1998 Nov 13-15	41	54	5
1998 Oct 29-Nov 1	44	47	9
1998 Oct 9-12	47	46	7
1998 Oct 6-7	44	48	8
1998 Sep 11-12	55	36	9
1998 May 8-10	44	48	8
1998 Apr 17-19	49	40	11
1998 Feb 13-15	57	33	10
1998 Jan 30-Feb 1	56	35	9
1998 Jan 16-18	42	47	11
1997
1997 Dec 18-21	39	52	9
1997 Oct 27-29	36	53	11
1997 Aug 22-25	41	48	11
1997 Jul 25-27	34	57	9
1997 May 6-7	32	58	10
1997 Apr 18-20	30	59	11
1997 Feb 24-26	37	48	15
1997 Jan 31-Feb 2	36	51	13
1996
1997 Jan 10-13	41	49	10
1996 Oct 26-29	34	51	15
1996 Aug 5-7	39	49	12
1996 May 9-12	30	65	5
1996 Apr 9-10	35	57	8
1995
1995 Sep 22-24	30	61	9
1995 Aug 28-30	30	60	10
1995 Jul 7-9	35	55	10
1995 May 11-14	34	57	9
1995 Apr 17-19	37	54	9
1995 Mar 27-29	31	61	8
1995 Mar 17-19	32	59	9
1995 Feb 24-26	35	53	12
1995 Feb 3-5	38	53	9
1995 Jan 16-18	33	52	15
1994
1994 Dec 28-30	23	66	11
1994 Oct 22-25	23	70	7
1994 Oct 7-9	21	73	6
1994 Jul 15-17	27	65	8
1994 Mar 25-27	29	63	8
1994 Feb 26-28	28	66	6
1993
1993 Nov 2-4	24	69	8
1993 Aug 8-10	23	69	8
1993 Jul 19-21	24	65	11
1993 Feb 26-28	27	54	19
1992
1992 Mar 3 ^	18	78	3
1991
1991 Oct 10-13	40	54	6
1991 Jul 25-28	32	53	15
1990
1990 Nov 2-4	26	63	11
1990 Oct 25-28	24	68	8
1990 Oct 18-21	23	64	13
1990 Oct 11-14	28	65	7
1988
1988 Sep 9-11	42	42	16
1987
1987 Aug 24-Sep 2	42	49	9
1986
1986 Apr 11-14	42	37	21
1983
1983 Apr 29-May 2	33	43	24
1982
1982 Jun 11-14	29	54	17
1981
1981 Jun 19-22	38	40	22
1980
1980 Jun 13-16	25	56	19
1979
1979 Jun 1-4	19	61	20
1978
1978 Sep 8-11	29	49	22
1977
1977 Sep 9-12	35	44	21
1977 Aug 5-8	36	44	20
1977 Jun 3-6	34	42	24
1977 May 20-23	40	40	20
1977 Mar 25-28	36	42	22
1976
1976 Jan 23-26	24	58	18
1975
1975 Oct 31-Nov 3	28	54	18
1975 Jun 27-30	29	54	17
1975 Apr 18-21	38	48	14
1975 Feb 28-Mar 3	32	50	18
1974
1974 Oct 11-14	35	43	22
1974 Aug 16-19	30	47	23
1974 Apr 12-15	30	47	23

3. In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time?

	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	No opinion
	%	%	%
2005
2005 Apr 4-7	38	59	3
2005 Mar 21-23	38	59	3
2005 Mar 7-10	42	56	2
2005 Feb 21-24	45	52	3
2005 Feb 7-10	46	52	2
2005 Jan 3-5	46	53	1
2004
2004 Dec 5-8	45	53	2
2004 Nov 7-10	44	54	2
2004 Oct 29-31	44	53	3
2004 Oct 11-14	41	57	2
2004 Sep 13-15	41	56	3
2004 Aug 9-11	44	55	1
2004 Jul 8-11	41	57	2
2004 Jun 3-6	39	59	2
2004 May 7-9	37	62	1
2004 May 2-4	36	62	2
2004 Apr 5-8	41	57	2
2004 Mar 8-11	39	60	1
2004 Feb 9-12	45	54	1
2004 Jan 12-15	46	53	1
2004 Jan 2-5	55	43	2
2003
2003 Dec 11-14	50	48	2
2003 Nov 3-5	44	54	2
2003 Oct 6-8	41	57	2
2003 Sep 8-10	40	58	2
2003 Aug 4-6	46	52	2
2003 Jul 7-9	50	48	2
2003 Jun 12-15	47	51	2
2003 May 5-7	54	45	1
2003 Apr 7-9	55	41	4
2003 Mar 22-23	60	38	2
2003 Mar 3-5	36	61	3
2003 Feb 17-19	39	58	3
2003 Feb 3-6	40	58	2
2003 Jan 13-16	42	56	2
2002
2002 Dec 5-8	46	51	3
2002 Nov 11-14	48	48	4
2002 Oct 31-Nov 3	48	47	5
2002 Oct 3-6	47	49	4
2002 Sep 5-8	47	51	2
2002 Aug 5-8	47	50	3
2002 Jul 26-28	48	49	3
2002 Jul 22-24	49	47	4
2002 Jul 9-11	49	48	3
2002 Jun 3-6	52	44	4
2002 May 6-9	56	40	4
2002 Apr 8-11	61	37	2
2002 Mar 4-7	61	37	2
2002 Feb 4-6	61	37	2
2002 Jan 7-9	65	32	3
2001
2001 Dec 6-9	70	28	2
2001 Nov 8-11	65	33	2
2001 Oct 11-14	67	29	4
2001 Sep 14-15	61	36	3
2001 Sep 7-10	43	55	2
2001 Aug 16-19	48	49	3
2001 Jul 19-22	51	46	3
2001 Jun 11-17	51	46	3
2001 May 10-14	46	50	4
2001 Apr 6-8	50	47	3
2001 Mar 5-7	53	44	3
2001 Feb 1-4	51	45	4
2001 Jan 10-14	56	41	3
2000
2000 Dec 2-4	51	46	3
2000 Nov 13-15	58	41	1
2000 Oct 6-9	62	36	2
2000 Aug 29-Sep 5	59	38	3
2000 Aug 18-19	63	33	4
2000 Jul 14-16	61	35	4
2000 Jun 22-25	56	39	5
2000 May 18-21	55	42	3
2000 Apr 3-9	59	37	4
2000 Feb 25-27	65	32	3
2000 Jan 7-10	69	28	3
1999
1999 Sep 23-26	52	45	3
1999 Aug 24-26	62	35	3
1999 Jun 11-13	55	42	3
1999 May 23-24	51	46	3
1999 Apr 26-27	51	45	4
1999 Apr 13-14	58	39	3
1999 Feb 12-13	71	26	3
1999 Jan 15-17	70	28	2
1998
1998 Dec 28-29	50	48	2
1998 Oct 29-Nov 1	60	34	6
1998 Aug 21-23	63	34	3
1998 Aug 10-12	60	36	4
1998 May 8-10	59	36	5
1998 Apr 17-19	58	38	4
1998 Feb 20-22	64	32	4
1998 Feb 13-15	59	37	4
1998 Jan 30-Feb 1	63	35	2
1997
1997 Dec 18-21	50	46	4
1997 Aug 22-25	50	48	2
1997 May 6-7	46	51	3
1997 Jan 10-13	50	47	3
1996
1996 Dec 9-11	43	55	2
1996 Nov 21-24	47	47	6
1996 Oct 26-29	39	56	5
1996 Aug 30-Sep 1	45	50	5
1996 Aug 16-18	38	57	5
1996 May 9-12	37	60	3
1996 Mar 15-17	36	61	3
1996 Mar 8-10	41	56	3
1996 Jan 5-7	24	72	4
1995
1995 Aug 11-14	33	64	3
1995 Jul 7-9	32	65	3
1995 Mar 27-29	30	66	4
1994
1994 Nov 28-29	29	67	4
1994 Nov 2-6	30	66	4
1994 Oct 22-25	31	66	3
1994 Jul 15-17	33	65	2
1994 May 20-22	33	64	3
1994 Apr 22-24	32	65	3
1994 Mar 25-27	35	62	3
1994 Feb 26-28	36	61	3
1994 Jan 15-17	35	62	3
1993
1993 Dec 4-6	34	63	3
1993 Nov 2-4	27	70	3
1993 May 21-23	24	73	3
1993 Feb 12-14	25	71	4
1993 Jan 8-11	29	68	3
1992
1992 Nov 11-12	26	68	6
1992 Aug 28-Sep 2 ‡	22	73	5
1992 Jul 31-Aug 2	17	80	3
1992 Jun 12-14	14	84	2
1992 May 7-10	20	77	3
1992 Apr 20-22 ^	19	80	1
1992 Mar 20-22	19	80	1
1992 Feb 28-Mar 1	21	78	1
1992 Jan 31-Feb 2 ^	24	75	1
1992 Jan 3-6 ^	24	74	2
1991
1991 Dec 5-8	37	60	3
1991 Oct 31-Nov 2	35	62	3
1991 Oct 10-13	39	57	4
1991 Aug 23-25	49	45	6
1991 Jul 11-14	43	50	7
1991 May 23-26	49	49	2
1991 Mar 21-24	52	43	5
1991 Feb 28-Mar 3	66	31	3
1991 Feb 14-17	54	40	6
1991 Jan 17-21	62	33	5
1991 Jan 3-6	32	61	7
1990
1990 Dec 13-16	33	64	3
1990 Nov 1-4	32	64	4
1990 Oct 25-28	31	66	3
1990 Oct 11-14	29	67	4
1990 Sep 27-30	37	58	5
1990 Aug 30-Sep 2	51	44	5
1990 Aug 9-12	43	51	6
1990 Jul 19-22	45	51	4
1990 Feb 8-11	55	39	6
1989
1989 May 4-7	44	50	6
1989 Feb	45	50	5
1988
1988 Sep 25-Oct 1	56	40	4
1988 May 13-15	41	54	5
1987
1987 Aug 24-Sep 2	45	49	6
1986
1986 Dec 4-5 †	47	49	4
1986 Sep 3-17	58	38	4
1986 Jun 9-16	69	26	5
1986 Mar 7-10	66	30	4
1985
1985 Nov 11-18	51	46	3
1984
1984 Dec	52	40	8
1984 Sep 28-Oct 1	48	45	7
1984 Feb 10-13	50	46	4
1983
1983 Aug 5-8	35	59	6
1982
1982 Nov 5-8	24	72	4
1982 Sep 17-20	24	72	4
1982 Apr 2-5	25	71	4
1981
1981 Dec 11-14	27	67	6
1981 Jun 5-8	33	61	6
1981 Jan 9-12	17	78	5
1979
1979 Nov 2-5	19	77	4
1979 Jul 13-16	12	84	4
1979 Feb 2-5	26	69	5
^ registered voters † Gallup/Newsweek ‡ Gallup/CNN/Knight-Ridder

4. What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? [OPEN-ENDED]

		Apr 4-7, 2005	Mar 7-10, 2005	Feb 7-10, 2005
		%	%	%
	ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)	34	28	29
1	Economy in general	12	10	12
2	Fuel/oil prices	9	2	1
3	Unemployment/jobs	8	8	7
4	Federal budget deficit/federal debt	3	3	5
5	High cost of living/inflation	3	1	2
6	Taxes	1	2	2
7	Lack of money	1	1	1
8	Wage issues	1	2	*
9	Gap between rich and poor	1	*	1
10	Foreign trade/trade deficit	*	*	*
11	Corporate corruption	*	*	*
	Recession	--	*	--

	NON-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)	73	80	83
1	Situation in Iraq/war	18	25	24
2	Social Security	8	12	12
3	Terrorism	8	9	9
4	Poor health care/hospitals; high cost of healthcare	7	9	10
5	Ethics/moral/religious/family decline; dishonesty; lack of integrity	6	4	6
6	Education/poor education/access to education	6	6	5
7	Dissatisfaction with government/Congress/ politicians/candidates; poor leadership; corruption	5	6	7
8	Immigration/illegal aliens	4	3	3
9	National security	3	5	4
10	Medicare	2	1	1
11	Foreign aid/focus overseas	2	3	4
12	Poverty/hunger/homelessness	2	3	4
13	Judicial system/courts/laws	2	1	1
14	International issues/problems	2	2	3
15	Crime/violence	1	2	1
16	Lack of energy sources; the energy crisis	1	*	*
17	Drugs	1	1	1
18	Lack of respect for each other	1	2	1
19	Unifying the country	1	1	1
20	Homosexuality/gay issues	1	*	1
21	Care for the elderly	1	1	1
22	Welfare	1	1	1
23	Environment/pollution	1	1	1
24	Abortion	1	*	1
25	Children's behavior/way they are raised	1	2	*
26	Race relations/racism	1	*	*
27	The media	*	--	1
28	Abuse of power	*	*	*
29	Child abuse	*	--	--
30	Cancer/diseases	*	*	--
31	Overpopulation	*	*	--
	Election year/presidential choices/election reform	--	*	*
	Guns/gun control	--	*	*
	Other non-economic	3	1	2

	No opinion	2	3	2
	Total	131%	133%	138%
	* Less than 0.5%

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