The Zogby and Rasmussen polling organizations released some interesting survey results before Christmas that the mainstream media will certainly not report to their loyal customers. Taken in their totality, these polls show:
- President Bush’s job favorability numbers are back to the levels they were at well before hurricane season began
- The revelations of NSA eavesdropping are not having a negative impact on the president
- Americans are feeling better about the War on Terror than they have since more than a year ago
- Americans are feeling better about things in Iraq than they have all year
First, Rasmussen released presidential job favorability numbers on Saturday:
“Forty-nine percent (49%) of American adults approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role as President. That's up five points since the President's speech on Sunday night.
“Yesterday was the first time since July that the President's Job Approval has reached the 50% mark. He earns approval from 81% of Republicans, 24% of Democrats, and 39% of those not affiliated with either major political party.”
As amazing as it may seem, the president’s job approval (according to Rasmussen) has risen three points since the New York Times NSA eavesdropping article was published on December 16.
Results released by Zogby on December 21 confirmed that the nation doesn't appear as bothered by what the NSA is doing as the media are:
“A narrow plurality of likely voters nationwide believe President Bush acted within his Constitutional powers when he authorized the interception of international communications without the approval of a federal judge, but the public is closely divided on the issue, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows.
“Nearly half – 49% - said they think he has the power to authorize the intercepts, while 45% said he does not, the survey showed."
“Asked if the President’s actions made Americans more safe or less safe, 50% said the nation was safer because of his actions, while 18% said the actions put the country more at risk and 26% said it made no difference in our level of safety.”
Also on Wednesday, Rasmussen released poll results concerning Americans’ views of the War on Terror:
“Fifty percent (50%) of Americans now believe that the U.S. and its allies are winning the War on Terror. That's up from 44% immediately preceding the speech. It's also the highest level of confidence in more than a year.
“Just 25% of Americans believe the terrorists are winning. Rasmussen Reports has asked this survey question more than 70 times over the past two years. Just once, in April 2004, has a smaller percentage of Americans believed that the terrorists were winning. When December began, 28% believed the terrorists were winning.”
As for Iraq:
“Forty percent (40%) of Americans now give the President good or excellent marks for handling the situation in Iraq. That's up from 35% before the speech.
“The number giving the President poor marks on Iraq declined to 39% from 42%. This is the first time all year that the number giving the President good or excellent marks has matched the number saying poor.”
