Poll Shows Drop in Confidence on Bush Skill in Handling Crises

The poll found that just 45 percent of Americans now have confidence in Mr. Bush's ability to deal wisely with an international crisis, down sharply from 66 percent in April, and half now say they are uneasy about his approach. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say the war in Iraq is still going on, and 6 in 10 say the United States should not spend as much on the effort as Mr. Bush has sought. Three-quarters of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, say the administration has yet to clearly explain how long American troops will have to stay in Iraq, or how much it will cost to rebuild the country.

As the week progressed and news coverage of the investigation intensified, respondents were somewhat less likely to credit the Bush administration with bringing heightened honesty and integrity to the workings of the White House, compared with past administrations. In the end, just over one-third of the respondents said the administration had brought more honesty and integrity, while 18 percent said it had brought less and 43 percent said it was about the same as other administrations.

Just 40 percent of voters expressed confidence in Mr. Bush's ability to make the right decisions about the economy, down from half in April, while 56 percent said they were uneasy, up from 42 percent in April.

Six in 10 Americans — and 4 in 10 Republicans — say the economy is worse than it was when Mr. Bush took office. Four in 10 of those polled were worried that someone in their household would lose his job in the next year.

Even worse news for the president was that Americans have also become critical of his handling of foreign policy, which had been been seen as his strength for most of his presidency. The latest survey found that 44 percent of those polled approved of Mr. Bush's overall handling of foreign policy, down from 52 percent in July, and that 47 percent approved of his handling of the situation in Iraq, down from 58 percent in July.

Polls last winter showed that public support for the president's decision to go to war in Iraq was sharply divided along partisan lines, with broad indications of reluctance. Now there are growing doubts about whether the results were worth the loss of life and other costs involved. Only 41 percent said it was, while 53 percent said it was not. When the question was asked using Saddam Hussein's name, the results were almost reversed, with about half those surveyed le saying it was worth removing him from power, and 41 percent saying it was not.

Over all, 51 percent of the respondents approved of Mr. Bush's performance. That is down from the high 80's after the Sept. 11 attacks, and from the high 60's at the beginning of the Iraq war. Just over 4 in 10 voters now have a favorable opinion of the president, compared with more than 6 in 10 in mid-2002, and just over 3 in 10 now have an unfavorable opinion compared with 2 in 10 in July 2002.