Gallup poll

Re. my previous post, the latest Gallup Poll is out. Surprisingly, the approval ratings held constant, but the rest of the news isn't good for Bush.

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest USA Today/Gallup poll finds more than 6 in 10 Americans critical of President George W. Bush on the leak controversy. The more closely people are following the issue, the more likely they are to say he did something illegal rather than unethical. The poll also shows that 37% of Americans continue to approve of Bush's job performance, unchanged from last month. While that is a low rating -- and among the lowest of the Bush administration -- it represents no change in four Gallup polls conducted since the end of February.

The leak controversy erupted into the news last week, when a court filing revealed that Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, testified that he was authorized to leak classified information by President Bush through Cheney. The president has long been critical of administration officials who have leaked information, and there are still questions as to how this revelation might relate to the leaking of a former CIA operative's name. While most political and legal observers acknowledge that Bush's actions in authorizing the release of classified information were not illegal, there are political implications to the controversy.

The poll, conduced April 7-9, 2006, shows that just 25% of Americans are following the matter "very" closely, while another 39% are following the issue "somewhat" closely. Another 36% are not following the issue closely.

How closely have you been following the news about George W. Bush's possible involvement with the leaking of certain intelligence information to reporters -- very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all?

	Very closely	Some- what closely	Not too closely	Not at all	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2006 Apr 7-9	25	39	22	14	*
* Less than 0.5%

Overall, 63% of Americans believe Bush did something either illegal (21%) or unethical (42%), while 28% say he did nothing wrong.

Which of the following statements best describes your view of George W. Bush in these matters -- he did something illegal, he did not do anything illegal, but did something unethical, or he did not do anything seriously wrong?

	Illegal	Unethical	Nothing wrong	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
All respondents	21	42	28	9
Follow issue "very" closely	37	35	26	2
Follow issue "somewhat" closely	20	48	28	4
Not follow issue closely	10	41	28	21

The more closely people are following the issue, the more likely they are to say Bush did something illegal rather than unethical, though expert opinion suggests that Bush has the authority to declassify information and thus his actions could not have been illegal. The less attentive respondents are more likely to think Bush did something unethical rather than illegal.

By the way, Blogger has been acting up for the past few days. It sometimes takes me a half hour to log in or to post, once logged in. So if posting today is sparse, that's the reason.