Hurricane Katrina Political Aftermath Watch: Poll Bush Not to Blame

Matt Drudge has CNNUSATODAYGALLUP POLL: ONLY 13% BLAME BUSH?

Wed Sep 07 2005 10:42:26 ET

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 609 adults taken September 5-6 shows:

Blame Game — 13% said George W. Bush is “most responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane”; 18% said “federal agencies”; 25% said “state and local officials”; 38% said “no one is to blame”; 6% had no opinion. — 29% said that “top officials in the federal agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be fired”; 63% said they should not; 8% had no opinion.

MORE

Government Performance — 10% said George W. Bush has done a “great” job in “responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding”; 25% said “good”; 21% said “neither good nor bad”; 18% said “bad”; 24% said “terrible”; 2% had no opinion. — 8% said federal government agencies responsible for handling emergencies have done a “great” job in “responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding”; 27% said “good”; 20% said “neither good nor bad”; 20% said “bad”; 22% said “terrible”; 3% had no opinion. — 7% said state and local officials in Louisiana have done a “great” job in “responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding”; 30% said “good”; 23% said “neither good nor bad”; 20% said “bad”; 15% said “terrible”; 5% had no opinion.

But, this is not the spin the AFP which has Americans disapprove of Bush’s handling of hurricane crisis: poll.

Forty-two percent of Americans said US President George W. Bush has handled Hurricane Katrina badly while 35 percent thought he has performed well, according to a Gallup poll just published.

Ok, let’s look directly at the Gallup Poll:

No Apparent Outrage With Government’s Response to Hurricane

Despite widespread criticism of the response by Bush and, separately, the federal government, to the problems caused by the hurricane, the public seems on balance only mildly critical. Forty-two percent say Bush did a “bad” (18%) or “terrible” (24%) job, but 35% rate his response as either “great” (10%) or “good” (25%).

Do you think — [RANDOM ORDER] — has/have done a — great, good, neither good nor bad, bad, or terrible job — in responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding?

	Great	Good	Neither good nor bad	Bad	Ter- rible	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%
George W. Bush	10	25	21	18	24	2
Federal government agencies responsible for handling emergencies	8	27	20	20	22	3
State and local officials in Louisiana	7	30	23	20	15	5

Federal agencies received a similar rating, with 42% of Americans giving a low rating and 35% a high one. The public was about evenly divided on state and local officials in Louisiana — 37% giving a high rating and 35% a low one.

The ratings for Bush are highly related to party affiliation.

• By a margin of 69% to 10%, Republicans give Bush a positive rather than negative rating for his response.
• Democrats give almost a mirror opposite — 66% negative to 10% positive.
• Independents side with the Democrats, giving a more modest margin — 47% negative to 29% positive.

When asked to identify who was most responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane, 38% of Americans said no one was really to blame, while 13% cited Bush, 18% the federal agencies, and 25% state and local officials.

Who do you think is MOST responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane — [ROTATED: George W. Bush, federal agencies, (or) state and local officials], or is no one really to blame?

	George W. Bush	Federal agencies	State/ local officials	No one to blame	No opinion
2005 Sep 5-6	13%	18	25	38	6

Few Americans feel that any top official in the agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be dismissed from office — just 29% say someone should be fired, while 63% disagree.

Do you think that any of the top officials in the federal agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be fired, or don’t you think so?

	Yes, should be fired	No, don’t think so	No opinion
2005 Sep 5-6	29%	63	8

Police are trying to get the remaining residents in New Orleans to evacuate, because of health and safety problems. Americans agree with this effort by better than a 2-to-1 margin, 66% to 30%.

Which comes closer to your view — [ROTATED: all residents of New Orleans should evacuate the city (or) the residents of New Orleans who are still in the city should be allowed to stay]?

	All residents should evacuate city	Residents still in the city should be allowed to stay	No opinion
2005 Sep 5-6	66%	30	4

The public tends to be upbeat about the efforts being made to deal with the disaster. Sixty-two percent feel the progress being made in the region is satisfactory, while 35% say it is not.

Based on what you have seen or read in the past day or two, do you think the progress made in dealing with the situation is satisfactory, or not?

	Yes, is	No, is not	No opinion
2005 Sep 5-6	62%	35	3

As for the effect of the hurricane on gas prices, Americans express a cynical view — by 79% to 18%, they believe that gas companies are taking advantage of the situation to charge unfair prices.

Which comes closer to your view — [ROTATED: the gas companies are charging a fair price given the conditions caused by the hurricane, (or) the gas companies are taking advantage of the situation and charging unfair prices]?

	Charging fair price given conditions	Taking advantage, charging unfair prices	No opinion
2005 Sep 5-6	18%	79	3

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 609 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Sept. 5-6, 2005. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.

For results based on the sample of 268 adults who say the city of New Orleans will completely recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±6 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

The MSM wants to blame Bush.

Hillary wants to join the bandwagon BASH, but Rudy Giuliani thinks differently.

The American people know the difference.