Even in Republican Utah, Bush presidency rated lackluster, poor

[helderheid]

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Even in Republican Utah, Bush presidency rated lackluster, poor
Less than half in poll give him good grades

By Thomas Burr

The Salt Lake Tribune
Posted: 01/14/2009 06:52:23 PM MST

President Bush's approval rating in Utah has dipped below 50 percent for the first time in a Salt Lake Tribune poll - a sign that the commander in chief's reputation has taken a beating even in his strongholds.

While Bush's approval ratings have hovered in the low 20s in some parts of the country, the Republican leader could always count on Utahns to provide his loudest cheering sections.

Not anymore.

His approval rating in Utah sank to 44 percent in The Tribune poll. Some 55 percent of those surveyed described Bush's performance as fair or poor.

No previous Tribune poll has given Bush less than a majority.

Utah voters gave Bush his biggest margins of victory in the 2000 and 2004 elections.

The economic troubles, paired with the groundswell of support for incoming President Barack Obama, could account for the drop, says Kirk Jowers, head of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.


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http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11453940

[Bobbieo]

1. His last minute minute lame duck moves to bring drilling and mining

in Utah's pristine public lands did not help his ratings.

[helderheid]

2. Indeed.