State of the Union Rated Poorly by 4 out of 5 Americans

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As President George W. Bush is fine tuning his last State of the Union address, American adults do not think much of the current state of the country. Four out of five Americans (81%) think that the current state of the country is fair or poor while just 19 percent think it is excellent or good. In fact, just two percent of Americans think the state of the country is excellent. Last year at this time, three in ten (31%) thought the state of the country was excellent or good while 69 percent felt it was fair or poor.

“At the end of the month, President Bush will give his State of the Union to the American people. How would you rate the current state of the country?”

President Bush also cannot count on support from his own party as six in ten Republicans (61%) believe the current state of the country is fair or poor. The numbers for Independents and Democrats are, not surprisingly, even worse. Almost all Democrats (95%) say the state of the country is fair or poor as do 87 percent of Independents.

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,302 U.S. adults surveyed online between January 15 and 22, 2008 by Harris Interactive^®.

How Certain Issues are Going

One reason for the general state of unhappiness in the country as a whole may be that there is a negative perception of the state of so many specific issues. Of the seven issues asked about, strong majorities say they are going poorly. Considering the economic news of the past few weeks, strengthening the economy is not looked at as going well at all. Four in five Americans (81%) say that is going poorly while just 16 percent say it is going well. Another economic issue, making taxes fairer, also does not do well, as three-quarters of Americans (75%) say that is going only fair or poor and one in five (19%) say it is going well.

Three in five (61%) Americans think the war on terrorism, normally one of President Bush’s strongest issues, is going poorly with just one-third (35%) saying it is going well. The war in Iraq fares even worse, as two-thirds (66%) say that is going poorly. Strengthening social security was one of President Bush’s signature initiatives, but Americans do not think highly at all of how that is going today. Just one in ten (10%) say that is going well in the country while 84 percent say it is going poorly. Three-quarters (76%) say making prescription drugs affordable is going poorly and two-thirds (66%) say protecting the environment is not going well.

In looking at the six issues that were also asked about last year, only one has seen an increase in people saying it is going well. Last year, one in five (19%) said the war in Iraq was going well, this year one-quarter (26%) say the same. While all the others are down, the one that has taken the largest drop is strengthening the economy. In 2007, over one-third (36%) of Americans said that was going well. One year later, just 16 percent say the same thing.

Issues to Emphasize in the State of the Union

As Americans watch the number of foreclosures rise and home values and portfolios drop, it may not be too surprising that strengthening the economy is the top issue people would like to see President Bush emphasize in the State of the Union. Almost two-thirds (64%) of Americans believe he should emphasize it up from just one-third (33%) who thought so last year. Half of Americans (49%) believe the war in Iraq should be emphasized; just about the same as last year’s 51 percent. Less than one-quarter of adults say any of the other issues asked about deserve emphasis in the State of the Union.

There are certain generations more worried about strengthening the economy than others – Generation X (those aged 32-43) and Baby Boomers (those aged 44-62). Seven in ten of both of these groups (69% and 71% respectively) believe strengthening the economy should be emphasized in the state of the union. This number drops to just over half of Matures (58% of those aged 63 and older) and Echo Boomers (57% of those aged 18-31).

Is Anyone Watching?

Looking at whether Americans will even be watching the final State of the Union for the President, the answer is maybe. Just under half (46%) of Americans say they may watching the address while just one-quarter (25%) say they will be and three in ten (29%) say they will not be watching. Again, the President can’t really count too much on his own party faithful to tune in as just one-third (34%) of Republicans will watch while half (51%) say they might.

So What?

The final year of the Bush Administration is starting off in worse shape than a year which saw record lows in Bush’s approval ratings (Harris Poll #36) and near record lows in the direction of the country (Harris Poll #121). While this does not mean that the President’s marks will get any lower, it does set the stage for a year in which President Bush is hoping to ensure his legacy will be left. He may be able to do just that. But he will need the support of Congress and the attention of the American public. At the moment, both of these groups are focused on other things. For Congress, it is an election year, not only for themselves, but also for the next person to occupy the White House. For the American public, their focus, at the moment, is probably less on elections and more on the economy and protecting their own wallets and pocketbooks. At the end of the year we’ll have to look back and see if President Bush has managed to make himself heard through all of this.

TABLE 1
CURRENT STATE OF THE UNION
“At the end of the month, President Bush will give his State of the Union to the American people. How would you rate the current state of the country?”
Base: All adults
	2006	2007	2008
	%	%	%
Good (NET)	32	31	19
Excellent	5	7	2
Good	28	24	17
Poor (NET)	68	69	81
Fair	39	45	43
Poor	29	24	38

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 2
CURRENT STATE OF THE UNION – By Party
“At the end of the month, President Bush will give his State of the Union to the American people. How would you rate the current state of the country?”
Base: All adults
	Total	Party ID
	Total	Republican	Democrat	Independent
	%	%	%	%
Good (NET)	19	39	5	13
Excellent	2	5	1	*
Good	17	35	4	13
Poor (NET)	81	61	95	87
Fair	43	47	35	46
Poor	38	13	60	41

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

Note: * = less than 0.5%

TABLE 3
HOW WELL THINGS ARE GOING IN THE COUNTRY
“How would you rate how well the following items are going in the country?”
Base: All adults
	Excellent/ Pretty Good (NET)	Excellent	Pretty Good	Only Fair/ Poor (NET)	Only Fair	Poor	Not Sure
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
The war on terrorism	35	8	27	61	27	34	4
Protecting the environment	30	4	26	66	35	31	4
The war in Iraq	26	7	20	71	23	47	3
Making prescription drugs affordable	19	3	16	76	33	42	6
Making taxes fairer	19	2	17	75	30	46	6
Strengthening the economy	16	2	13	81	34	46	3
Strengthening Social Security	10	1	9	84	31	53	6

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 4
HOW WELL THINGS ARE GOING IN THE COUNTRY - TREND
“How would you rate how well the following items are going in the country?”
Percent saying Excellent/Pretty Good
Base: All adults
	2006	2007	2008
	%	%	%
The war on terrorism	41	38	35
Protecting the environment	n/a	n/a	30
The war in Iraq	30	19	26
Making prescription drugs affordable	18	22	19
Making taxes fairer	20	21	19
Strengthening the economy	35	36	16
Strengthening Social Security	15	13	10

n/a = not asked

TABLE 5
MOST IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR PRESIDENT TO EMPHASIZE IN STATE OF THE UNION
“Which two do you think are the most important for President Bush to emphasize in the State of the Union address?”
Base: All adults
	Total	Generation
	Total	Echo Boomers (18 to 31)	Gen X (32 to 43)	Baby Boomers (44 to 62)	Matures (63+)
	%	%	%	%	%
Strengthening the economy	64	57	69	71	58
The war in Iraq	49	52	46	46	52
The war on terrorism	23	23	26	21	25
Strengthening Social Security	21	18	17	22	27
Making taxes fairer	17	17	17	17	16
Protecting the environment	13	22	10	9	11
Making prescription drugs affordable	10	8	11	12	10

TABLE 6
MOST IMPORTANT ITEMS FOR PRESIDENT TO EMPHASIZE IN STATE OF THE UNION – TREND
“Which two do you think are the most important for President Bush to emphasize in the State of the Union address?”
Base: All adults
	2006	2007	2008
	%	%	%
Strengthening the economy	51	33	64
The war in Iraq	32	51	49
The war on terrorism	30	29	23
Strengthening Social Security	22	20	21
Making taxes fairer	27	14	17
Protecting the environment	n/a	n/a	13
Making prescription drugs affordable	18	15	10

n/a = not asked

TABLE 7
STATE OF THE UNION VIEWERSHIP
“Will you be watching the State of the Union address this year?”
Base: All adults
	Total	Party ID
	Total	Republican	Democrat	Independent
	%	%	%	%
Yes	25	34	21	25
Maybe	46	51	44	46
No	29	15	35	29

Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

Methodology

This Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States January 15 and 22, among 2,302 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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Q505, 510, 515, 520

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the largest and fastest-growing market research firms in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its North American, European and Asian offices, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com. Harris Interactive is an independent, non-partisan research company and does not take part in political campaigning or primary predictions.

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