President Bush's job-approval rating has dropped to its lowest point ever in Utah, the latest Deseret News/KSL-TV poll shows. But while half of Utahns approve of the job Bush is doing, only a quarter approve of the job Congress is doing.
The latest Dan Jones & Associates survey shows considerable disapproval of the Washington establishment. Bush's job-approval rating has dropped 18 percentage points in the past six months.As the Persian Gulf war was ending in February 1991, Bush's approval ratings were climbing. At that time, 95 percent of Utahns approved of the way he was handling the war, and 71 percent approved of how he was handling domestic affairs.
Then began the slide.
In December 1991, Jones found that 68 percent of Utahns approved of Bush's job performance. Only 50 percent currently approve. Forty-seven percent disapprove of the job Bush is doing. Only 3 percent had no opinion, Jones found.
In some national surveys, Bush's job rating has dropped below 50 percent.
While the president's approval rating in Utah is poor compared to locally elected officials, he's doing a lot better than Congress. Three out of four Utahns think Congress is doing a bad job.
The poll was taken before the House of Representatives voted down a balanced budget amendment on Thursday - so it's possible Congress' job approval rating would be even worse today.
Utah is one of the most Republican states in the nation, and most of those who told Jones they are Republicans stuck by their president. Jones found that 74 percent of Republicans approve of Bush's performance, although a fourth disapprove of how their own party leader conducts the nation's affairs.
Democrats feel just the opposite - 75 percent disapproving of Bush's performance. Fifty-five percent of independents disapprove of the job Bush is doing.
In a Deseret News/KSL-TV poll published a week ago, Jones found that independent presidential candidate Ross Perot is favored by 42 percent of Utahns, with Bush getting just 32 percent of the vote and Democrat Bill Clinton coming in a dismal 10 percent.
That means that some Utahns who approve of Bush's job performance say they're still going to vote for Texas billionaire Perot - an indication that Bush has to do something on the political front, in addition to doing his job well, to convince them to turn away from Perot.
*****
(Poll)
Deseret News/KSL-TV poll
Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the following:
George Bush
Approve 50%
Disapprove 47%
Don't know 3%
MEAN 2.61%
U.S. Congress
Approve 26%
Disapprove 67%
Don't know 7%
MEAN 3.08%
*****
Conducted June 2, 3, 1992 Sample Size: 601
Error: +/- 6% 1992 Deseret News