Miami Herald: Bush approval hits all-time low in Florida

Florida twice put President Bush into the White House, but a new poll shows him hitting an all-time low among voters in the nation's most populous swing state.

The survey shows that voters are troubled by Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, support withdrawing troops ''as quickly as possible,'' and are overwhelmingly convinced -- 68 percent -- that the country is on the wrong track.
Just 33 percent of the state's registered voters rated Bush's job performance ''excellent'' or ''good,'' and 50 percent called his handling of the situation in Iraq ''poor,'' according to the poll conducted for The Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post, the St. Petersburg Times and Bay News 9. The survey has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Voters, said Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who conducted the poll along with Democrat Rob Schroth, ''are in a very sour, pessimistic mood'' when it comes to the nation's fortunes.

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The poll points to a potential trouble spot for the Republicans who would like to succeed Bush and have largely sided with him on Iraq: Even a majority of voters in the traditionally conservative, military-friendly Panhandle support withdrawing troops from Iraq ''as quickly as possible in a safe and orderly manner.'' In South Florida, support for pulling troops out tops 66 percent.
That includes voters like Margaret Brown, 79, a Lighthouse Point resident and lifelong Republican voter, who said she doesn't support President Bush any longer. ''I'm totally against Bush and I'm against the Iraq War,'' said Brown, a poll respondent.

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But the poll shows that voters are more evenly divided over the possibility of Bush using military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Forty-nine percent said they would oppose such an event; 43 percent said they would support the move. Support was highest among those who said they attend church ''very frequently'' or identified themselves as born-again Christians.
Conway noted that parents were more likely than nonparents to back military action against Iran, and ``as far as religion goes, those who attended church frequently were much more blood-curdlers.''

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