Replying to George W. Bush approval rating

Poll says 71 percent of voters want Bush gone


NEW YORK (IRNA) -- A Newsweek poll done after U.S. President George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union address found that many voters now see him as almost irrelevant.

The poll put Bush's job approval rating at 30 percent.

Almost three-quarters, 71 percent, of those polled agreed that Bush is an ineffectual lame duck, while 53 percent said they believe future historians will perceive Bush as a below-average president.

More than two-thirds, 67 percent, said they believe Bush's positions on Iraq are shaped by his personal beliefs, not by facts.

Many Republicans, 21 percent, agree with the overwhelming majority of Democrats and a majority of independents that they wish that Bush's term was already over.

Congress, or at least the former Republican majority in Congress, also gets poor marks, with 64 percent of respondents saying it should have done more to oppose Bush on the Iraq War.

Almost half, 48 percent, of those surveyed said their opinion of Bush will affect their choice in the 2008 presidential election.