United Nations, Oct 03: With the American army bogged down in Iraq, unemployment rising and economy failing to pick up, the public confidence in President George W Bush's ability to deal effectively with both foreign and domestic problems is plummeting, a new opinion poll shows. Bush’s popularity has been sliding over the past five years and now a clear majority is uneasy about his ability to make the right decisions on the nation's economy, a New York Times/CBS poll has revealed. Thirteen months before the 2004 election, a solid majority of Americans say the country is seriously on the wrong track, a classic danger sign for incumbents, and only about half the Americans approve of Bush's overall performance. That is roughly the same as when Bush took office after the razor-close 2000 election. But more than 6 in 10 Americans still say the President has strong qualities of leadership, more than 5 in 10 say he has more honesty and integrity than most people in public life and 6 in 10 credit him with making the country safer from terrorist attack. By contrast, the Democratic presidential contenders remain largely unknown, and nearly half of Americans, and a like number of registered voters, say the Democrats have no clear plan of their own for the country.
Bureau Report