LATimes: Electorate Divided on Bush Re-Election, Poll Finds [View All]

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/timespoll/la-na-poll20nov20,1,3774962.story?coll=la-home-headlines

While most Americans view President Bush as a strong leader and say they like him personally, doubts about his performance and agenda have produced an electorate divided almost in half on whether he deserves a second term, a Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

The survey, coming one year before the 2004 election, shows that Americans remain split over Bush along many of the same lines of gender, race and cultural values that separated the country during his razor-thin victory over Democrat Al Gore in 2000.

When the poll asked registered voters if Bush deserves re-election, 42 percent said yes and 46 percent said no, a difference within the survey's margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. When asked if they were more likely to support Bush or the Democratic nominee in 2004, voters again lined up in almost equal camps, with the president trailing 38 percent to 42 percent, also within the margin of error.

The survey suggests two distinct tensions in public opinion could shape Bush's political fate.

On one axis, voters appear to be weighing generally positive assessments of his personal characteristics -- from likability and leadership to honesty -- against a more ambivalent view of his policies and their impact on the country.