CBS News. 8/29-31. MoE 3%. (7/29-8/2 results)
Bush approval rating
Approve 41 (45)
Disapprove ?? (46)
Bush's handling of Katrina disaster
Approve 54
Disapprove 12
Hurricane Katrina may give President Bush the opportunity to increase his low approval ratings. In fact, his overall rating did rise on the last day of the poll, after he returned to the White House from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and addressed the nation on the crisis in the Gulf Coast.
But in the early days of this crisis, many Americans are withholding judgment about his handling of it. Fifty-four percent approve of the way the President is handling Hurricane Katrina, and only 12 percent disapprove -- but one-third can't say yet. This question was added to the poll on Tuesday, the day after Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf coast.
Given the coverage of the disaster the last two days, expect that disapproval rating to skyrocket. Bush isn't coming out of this unscathed.