Berlusconi's popularity hits new low - poll

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Berlusconi's popularity hits new low - poll
57 mins ago

A corruption scandal, an unpopular austerity budget and a string of government resignations have pushed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's popularity to a new low, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday. Skip related content

The poll in La Repubblica newspaper showed Berlusconi's approval rating had fallen to 39 percent and is now 10 percentage points lower than it was a year ago.

La Repubblica is a left-leaning daily but the results of its IPR survey mirror those published in the last few weeks by other newspapers.

The 73-year old conservative premier is facing the toughest time in his two-year old government and is under pressure on several fronts.

He was forced to rely on a confidence vote to push a 25-billion euro (21 billion pound) austerity budget through the Senate last week. An increasingly bitter row with his main nominal ally, Gianfranco Fini, also threatens the survival of his centre-right coalition.



Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100720/tpl-uk-italy-berlusconi-20b2d2f.html

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

1. Hey, they voted for the asshole...... 3 TIMES! nt

[xchrom]

2. and we thought america had all the idiots.

i've watched this berlusconi thing -- it's like a train wreck -- you can't take your eyes off of it.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

3. You know when people use the expression: "Oh it's not that bad." Yes, yes it is. nt

[nyy1998]

7. He's a terrible leader, but it's like watching at comedy routine on an international level

I can't help but laugh at this guy.

[doc03]

4. He's is still 13% higher than GWB was when he slithered

out of office.

[fascisthunter]

5. Hopefull Fascism goes down with him... (nt)

[David__77]

6. The "left" should have crushed him to bits when they had the chance.

He could be in prison right now if the so-called "left" were smart when it were in power. He deserves to be. The Italian left has been in utterly pathetic disarray since the self-dissolution of the PCI.

[Wednesdays]

8. You're exactly right about Chene... oh, wait, you're talking about Italy.

My bad.

[Vidar]

9. I hope they give him the same send-off of they gave Mussolini.