Washington Post-ABC News Poll
October 28-29, 2005
This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone October 28-29, 2005, among a national sample of 600 randomly selected adults. Margin of sampling error for overall results is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Fieldwork by TNS of Horsham, PA.
*= less than 0.5 percent
1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president? Do you approve/disapprove strongly or somewhat?
-------- Approve -------- ------- Disapprove ------ No
NET Strongly Somewhat NET Somewhat Strongly opin.
10/29/05 39 22 17 58 13 45 3
9/11/05 42 27 15 57 12 45 1
8/28/05 45 27 18 53 12 41 2
6/26/05 48 27 21 51 11 40 1
6/5/05 48 27 21 52 14 38 1
4/24/05 47 25 22 50 13 38 3
3/13/05 50 31 19 48 11 37 3
1/31/05 50 34 15 45 11 34 5
1/16/05 52 33 19 46 11 35 2
12/19/04 48 27 21 49 12 38 2
10/20/04 50 30 20 46 11 35 4
10/17/04 LV 54 35 19 45 9 36 2
10/16/04 LV 54 35 19 44 10 34 2
10/15/04 LV 54 35 19 44 10 34 2
10/3/04 LV 53 36 17 46 11 34 1
9/26/04 50 33 18 45 13 32 5
9/8/04 52 35 17 43 11 32 5
8/29/04 50 31 19 47 13 34 3
8/1/04 47 28 18 49 13 36 5
7/25/04 50 32 19 47 13 34 3
7/11/04 48 31 17 50 11 39 2
6/20/04 47 30 17 51 13 39 1
5/23/04 47 31 17 50 14 36 3
4/18/04 51 33 18 47 13 34 1
3/7/04 50 32 18 48 12 36 2
2/11/04 50 30 21 47 14 34 2
1/18/04 58 35 24 40 9 30 2
12/21/03 59 39 21 38 15 23 3
12/14/03 57 37 20 39 10 29 5
12/7/03 53 32 21 40 13 27 7
11/16/03 57 34 23 39 11 28 4
10/29/03 56 30 26 42 13 29 2
10/13/03 53 33 20 43 13 29 4
9/30/03 54 34 20 44 15 29 2
9/13/03 58 35 23 40 14 27 2
9/7/03 56 34 22 41 13 28 4
8/11/03 59 37 22 37 14 23 4
7/10/03 59 35 24 38 13 25 3
6/22/03 68 45 23 29 11 18 4
4/30/03 71 50 22 26 17 9 3
4/16/03 74 52 22 23 9 14 3
4/9/03 77 58 19 20 6 14 4
4/3/03 71 54 16 25 7 19 4
3/23/03 68 NA NA 27 NA NA 4
3/20/03 67 NA NA 28 NA NA 5
3/2/03 62 38 23 35 13 22 4
2/23/03 60 NA NA 34 NA NA 6
2/9/03 64 42 21 34 14 20 3
2/1/03 62 41 21 34 13 22 4
1/28/03 62 43 19 36 13 23 2
1/27/03 59 39 21 37 15 22 4
1/20/03 59 36 23 38 16 22 2
12/15/02 66 37 28 32 12 20 2
11/4/02 LV 67 45 23 31 12 20 1
11/3/02 LV 67 45 22 32 12 20 1
11/2/02 LV 67 47 20 32 9 23 1
10/27/02 67 39 28 29 13 16 4
9/26/02 67 42 25 30 12 18 3
9/8/02 71 42 28 27 12 15 3
7/28/02 69 39 31 28 14 14 3
7/15/02 72 42 31 25 12 13 2
6/17/02 74 42 32 22 9 13 4
6/9/02 77 41 36 20 9 11 3
5/19/02 76 48 28 22 8 13 3
4/21/02 78 47 31 20 9 10 2
3/28/02 79 49 30 18 8 10 3
3/10/02 82 52 30 16 9 7 2
1/27/02 83 56 27 14 7 7 3
12/19/01 86 64 22 12 6 6 2
11/27/01 89 69 21 9 4 5 1
11/6/01 89 65 24 9 5 4 2
10/9/01 92 76 16 6 3 3 1
9/27/01 90 70 20 6 3 3 4
9/13/01 86 63 23 12 5 6 2
9/9/01 55 26 29 41 20 22 3
8/12/01 61 28 33 31 14 17 8
7/30/01 59 28 30 38 17 22 3
6/3/01 55 27 28 40 18 22 6
4/22/01 63 33 30 32 16 16 5
3/25/01 58 NA NA 33 NA NA 8
2/25/01 55 NA NA 23 NA NA 22
38. How would you rate Bush's handling of ethics in government - excellent, good, only fair or poor?
----Excellent/Good---- ----Fair/Poor---- No
NET Excellent Good NET Fair Poor op.
10/29/05 34 11 23 64 29 35 2
Compare to:
Clinton:
----Excellent/Good---- ----Fair/Poor---- No
NET Excellent Good NET Fair Poor op.
1/26/00 37 8 29 62 22 40 1
Reagan:
----Excellent/Good---- ----Fair/Poor---- No
NET Excellent Good NET Fair Poor op.
11/20/88 37 5 32 59 34 25 4
39. Do you think the overall level of ethics and honesty in the federal government has risen, fallen or stayed the same with Bush as president?
Risen Fallen Same No opin.
10/29/05 15 46 37 2
Compare to:
Clinton:
Risen Fallen Same No opin.
3/27/94 17 24 58 1
1/23/94 14 23 58 6
FOR COMPARISON ONLY: (Present tense wording) Do you think the overall level of ethics and honesty in the federal government will rise, fall or stay the same with Clinton as president?
Rise Fall Same No opin.
1/17/93 35 13 50 2
41. As you may know, a federal grand jury has indicted Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with the case in which the identity of an undercover CIA agent was disclosed to news reporters. Libby has resigned his White House position.
In your opinion, do you think the charge against Libby represents (a serious) crime, or (a minor or technical) one?
Serious Minor or No
crime technical crime opin.
10/29/05 69 26 5
42. Do you think the prosecutor has brought this case against Libby (on the basis of the facts of the case), or (out of political motivations)?
Facts of Political Both No
the case motivations (vol.) opin.
10/29/05 55 30 6 8
43. It's been reported that another subject of the investigation has been Karl Rove, a close adviser to Bush. Given what you've heard or read, do you think Rove did anything wrong in connection with this case, or not? IF YES: Do you think he did something (unethical but not illegal), or do you think he did something (illegal)?
--------------Yes-------------- No
NET Illegal Not illegal No opin.
10/29/05 47 18 28 29 24
45. Given what you've heard or read, do you think Vice President Cheney did anything wrong in connection with this case, or not? IF YES: Do you think he did something (unethical but not illegal), or do you think he did something (illegal)?
--------------Yes-------------- No
NET Illegal Not illegal No opin.
10/29/05 41 20 21 44 15
46. Given what you've heard or read, do you think Bush did anything wrong in connection with this case, or not? IF YES: Do you think he did something (unethical but not illegal), or do you think he did something (illegal)?
--------------Yes-------------- No
NET Illegal Not illegal No opin.
10/29/05 33 12 21 55 12
47. Do you think this case (is an isolated incident) or do you think it (indicates broader problems with ethical wrongdoing in the Bush administration)?
Isolated Broader No
incident problems opin.
10/29/05 41 55 4
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