Low Marks for President Bush as Earth Day Approaches
Apr 21st, 2008 • Posted in: Research ReportLooking to the future, “Democratic candidates are perceived to be better than Senator McCain,” poll finds
From Harris Interactive:
“With the arrival of Earth Day 2008 and the ongoing presidential election, it is interesting to compare how the current president is perceived as handling the environment and how his possible replacements are perceived as handling it if they were president. Just over one-quarter of Americans (28%) give President Bush positive ratings on his handling of the environment over his term while almost two-thirds (64%) give him negative ratings.
“Not surprisingly, Republicans are more likely to give him positive ratings (58% positive versus 35% negative) and Democrats negative ratings (83% negative and 10% positive). Independents, however, are more closely aligned with Democrats on this issue. Seven in ten Independents (71%) give the president negative marks on his handling of the environment while one in five (22%) give him positive ones….
“Looking at the three Senators vying to replace President Bush, the two Democrats are perceived as doing a better job on the environment if they were elected president. Just under half say Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (47% each) would do a positive job on the environment while one-third (33%) say John McCain would do a positive job. One-third (32%) give a possible Obama presidency negative ratings on the environment, while a possible Clinton presidency and the environment is perceived negatively by 35 percent of Americans. Just under half (45%) give a possible McCain presidency negative ratings on the environment….
“The environment and global warming are issues that concern many people but, at this time, they are not nearly as important as the economy, Iraq or health care. In so far as they become significant issues in the election, these findings suggest they will be somewhat helpful to the Democratic candidate. This poll does not tell us whether Senator McCain’s lower scores reflect perceptions of Republicans in general or of McCain personally or if he is hurt by President Bush’s negative ratings on the environment….”
For the full press release, Apr. 21, click here.
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