Washington, May 03: US president George W Bush's overall job approval rating remains at a heady 65 percent, the Iraq factor boosting the image of a leader seen as weaker on domestic issues, according to a new poll conducted for Newsweek. Despite a drop of six points in his overall job approval rating over the past three weeks, Bush continues to receive high marks for preventing terrorism at home (74 percent) and for his handling of the Iraq crisis (69 percent). But the number of respondents who disapprove of Bush's over all performance as president has risen slightly from 23 percent to 26. His rating are short of the 50 percent mark on a range of domestic issues, including the economy (45 percent), tax policy (47 percent) and healthcare (39 percent). Support for a sustained US military commitment in Iraq has also slipped since the last Newsweek poll, with only 46 percent of those questioned in favour of US troops remaining in Iraq for a year or more, down from 55 percent. Overall, 51 percent of respondents said they would like to see Bush re-elected for a second term as president, while 38 percent said they would not.

And if Bush is to be re-elected, those polled were clear about where he should direct his attention between now and in November 2004. Some 62 percent said the economy and jobs were the key factors, while only 23 percent identified terrorism and homeland security.

Bureau Report