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Country Still Backs President on Security Matters
President Bush delivers his State of the Union Address Tuesday night to an American public that has become broadly dissatisfied with his domestic agenda, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The new survey found that, on the eve of his annual address to Congress, Bush continues to enjoy a huge advantage over Democrats on matters of national security, besting them by two to one in the fight against terrorism and by nearly as broad a margin on his handling of the conflict in Iraq. But while Bush retains the support of nearly six in 10 Americans, the public believes Democrats would do a better job on a full range of domestic issues, such as the economy, prescription drugs for the elderly, health insurance, Medicare, the budget deficit, immigration and taxes. And Bush has lost the advantage on education policy he once enjoyed.
As a result, Bush finds himself in a statistical dead heat with the opposition nine months before the election. When matched against a generic Democratic presidential candidate -- the party is holding its first nominating contest tonight in Iowa -- Bush narrowly wins, 48 percent to 46 percent. On the question of who is trusted to handle the nation's major problems, Bush is roughly even with Democrats, 45 percent to 44 percent -- down from an 18-point advantage Bush enjoyed nine months ago.
The president's speech will address this anxiety by giving greatest emphasis to Bush's domestic proposals. Aides said the president will reverse the order of his annual address from last year -- when he closed with the case for war in Iraq -- to put his closing emphasis on domestic issues such as health care, the economy, Social Security and immigration.
That election-year emphasis closely follows the public's wishes. The poll found that worries about domestic issues have increased in the past year while concerns about terrorism, Iraq and the economy have dipped. More Americans want Bush to discuss domestic programs (40 percent) than want to hear him discuss the campaign against terrorism (15).
Overall, the poll found support for Bush remains healthy and essentially unchanged at 58 percent, in the same range it has been since July. At the same time, the number of people who strongly disapprove of his presidency reached 30 percent. That's the highest level of strong disapproval ever recorded in his presidency, and a clear sign of the intensifying dislike with which Bush is viewed by his political opponents.
Keep in mind the WaPo allows "weakly" favors as a choice. One can favor but not vote for, and the negatives are important. The SOTU bump may be the smallest yet.