Now that the war has officially ended, American confidence in the Bush administration’s ability to maintain peace and create a workable democratic government in Iraq seems to be wavering slightly. Three weeks ago, 74 percent of Americans–an all-time high–said they approved of the way Bush was handling Iraq; that number has since fallen by 5 points. While most Americans–63 percent–are very confident or somewhat confident that the United States will be able to establish democracy in Iraq, 33 percent are not as sure it can be done.
And people also seem more anxious for troops to leave Iraq than in weeks past. Twelve percent think the U.S. military should remain in Iraq only for another week or two–up 6 percent from mid-April, when Saddam Hussein’s regime was first toppled. Those who think troops should remain for between one and two years is down 7 points, to 26 percent. And there is increasing uncertainty: the number of Americans who say they don’t know how long a military presence should remain is up 4 points since mid-April, to 12 percent.
The NEWSWEEK poll was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, which interviewed by telephone 1,007 adults, aged 18 and older on May 1 and 2, 2003. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
As the focus on Iraq ebbs, the U.S. economy is again weighing heavily on American minds. Sixty-two percent say the economy and jobs will be the determining factor in who they vote for in the 2004 presidential election, although half of those polled did not think a Democratic president would handle the economy any better than Bush.
But that doesn’t mean they are happy with the current economic climate: Fewer than half of those polled–45 percent–think Bush is doing a good job with the economy, down 8 percent from the end of March. Still, Americans remain slightly more optimistic about where the economy is headed than they were about a year ago: 46 percent believe the economic climate will improve during the next year, up 1 point from July 2002, while only 11 percent think it will get worse, down from 15 percent last July.
Americans perceive their personal financial situation as slightly worse than in March 2001, with the number of people who say their financial situation is good down 4 points, to 38 percent, and those who say their financial situation is poor up by 2 points, to 16 percent.
In domestic policy matters, Bush received his lowest grades in health care–with only 39 percent approval. Although the highest approval ratings–74 percent–were for Bush’s policies toward terrorism at home, that number has declined n 4 percent from three weeks ago, when Americans were feeling especially confident about the outcome in Iraq.
