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U.S. Approval of Bush Iraq Policy Drops
_26 percent approve of the job being done by Congress; this is close to approval levels in early October.
The decline in support for Iraq was the most notable change. Anger about Iraq also was a strong theme for voters, according to exit polls taken for The Associated Press and the television networks.
  U.S. President George W. Bush answers a reporter's question after his meeting with Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, not pictured, on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (Charles Dharapak - AP) 
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A majority of voters disapproved of the war in Iraq, thought the war has not made the United States more secure and wanted to see troops start coming home, those polls found. All of those groups voted for Democratic candidates.
"The president recognizes that the American people are understandably concerned about the violence in Iraq," said White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore. "He shares their concerns but believes that our policy in Iraq must be determined by victory in the war on terror, not public opinion polls."
Some people question whether victory is achievable.
"Now it's a total mess and I don't have the faintest idea how they're going to get out," said Arthur Thurston, a Democratic-leaning independent from Medina, Ohio. "Iraqis are fighting each other now. But the U.S. troops can't just walk out."
Bush has met with Democratic leaders since the election, though Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada says he thinks the president will need to be pushed to change his stance on Iraq.
"I agree that we need to stay over there and finish what we started. I don't like that our people are over there dying. But if we don't finish it, it will come back over here," said Kelly Mangel, an independent from Sedalia, Mo.
The public divisions over the war have left the Iraq Study Group with a difficult job.
"If there's any hope," said a Democratic member of the blue-ribbon panel, Leon Panetta, "it's that our recommendations can help pull the country together _ if Republicans and Democrats can agree on a common strategy."
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AP's Manager of News Surveys Trevor Tompson, AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and AP writer Anne Plummer Flaherty contributed to this story.
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