Americans think history will judge Bush harshly

Despite the administration’s constant insistence that
history will prove President Bush correct in many of his least popular
endeavors, Americans are not similarly optimistic.

More than half, 53 percent, say history will be cruel to
the president, while 30 percent say history will be kind, according to the
final Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Corporation poll of the 43rd president’s
tenure.

{mosads}Despite an uptick in the last couple of months, Bush will
leave office near the nadir of his sagging popularity, with 34 percent of
Americans approving of his job performance and 58 percent disapproving. Bush
bottomed out in early October 2008, when his favorability rating dropped to 25
percent.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted Jan. 9 through
Jan. 12 among 1,007 adults showed Bush equaling the lowest approval rating of
his two terms; in that survey, just 27 percent said they approved of the job
the president is doing, while 67 percent said they disapproved. That poll had a
margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

The Fox News poll showed Americans are pessimistic about
the outgoing administration just as they have high hopes for President-elect
Obama. More than three in four voters, including a surprisingly high 55 percent
of Republicans, have a favorable impression of the incoming president and 77
percent of voters are optimistic about the next decade in the United States,
with just 21 percent admitting to being pessimistic.

Three in four voters said they are confident that the
Obama administration can bring significant positive change to the country,
including 93 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independents. Meanwhile, 53
percent of voters said Obama is meeting their expectations and an additional 14
percent said he is beating what they expected of him.

In a measure of just how favorably the incoming president
is viewed, 53 percent of respondents said Tuesday’s inauguration would be more
interesting than the Super Bowl, including big majorities of Democratic and
independent voters. Forty percent, including 57 percent of Republicans, chose
the year’s championship football game over Obama’s swearing-in.

Voters largely rate Obama’s Cabinet selections well:
Sixty percent described his picks as excellent or good choices, while just 34
percent called them fair or poor.

Voters also have positive views of Obama’s efforts to
stimulate the economy, and a majority support his position of rolling back the
Bush administration’s tax cuts. Fifty-one percent said the tax cuts should
either be eliminated now or allowed to expire in 2010, while 37 percent said
the cuts should be continued going forward.

The 58 percent who back Obama’s proposed economic
recovery plan far outweigh the 29 percent who oppose the package.

On other matters, Americans have widely different views
of two prominent female politicians and their treatment by the media.
In Caroline Kennedy’s quest for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s
(D-N.Y.) Senate seat, 52 percent of Americans think Kennedy is being treated
fairly by the press, with 26 percent calling her treatment unfair.

Just over one-third — 35 percent — said former Republican
vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was treated fairly by the press, with
58 percent disagreeing.

The Fox News poll was conducted by Opinion Dynamics
Tuesday and Wednesday among 900 registered voters for a margin of error of plus
or minus 3 percent.