President Bush a failure: Poll

August 15, 2007

Washington, DC - A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Wednesday said that 57 percent of Americans deem Bush's presidency a "failure."

According to the poll, 57 percent of Americans deem Bush's presidency a "failure," while 55 percent say the same for the Democratic Congress. Meanwhile, 40 percent call Bush's presidency a success, while only 37 percent give that mark to Congress.

It's not all bad news for Democrats. By a 48 to 35 percent margin, Americans say they have more confidence in the Democrats than in Bush to deal with the major issues facing the country today. Confidence in the Democrats has, however, dropped six points since a similar poll in November.

"The public clearly doesn't like what it sees coming out of Washington these days," explains CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Most Americans think the Bush presidency is a failure; most say the Democratic Congress has been a failure this year as well."

"But politics is a zero-sum game," notes Holland. "Voters wind up having to choose one side or the other. The good news for the Democrats is that Americans still have more confidence in them than in Bush. The bad news: the number who have more confidence in the Democrats has dropped since last year, and is now under 50 percent."

The poll, conducted August 6-8, includes interviews of 1,029 Americans and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.