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Poll: Bush credibility down
By Richard Benedetto, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — President Bush's credibility rating is down since his former counterterrorism chief went public last week with accusations that Bush minimized the al-Qaeda threat to focus on getting rid of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.
The Bush administration did not do all it could to prevent the attacks, 54% say, and 53% say the White House is covering up something about its handling of intelligence before Sept. 11.

Still, 67% say the administration should not have been expected to prevent the tragedy.

But Americans' doubts have not meant greater reluctance to return Bush to office.

In a two-way matchup, Bush leads Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic candidate, 51%-47%, which is a 7 percentage-point gain in three weeks for Bush and a 5-point drop for Kerry. Three weeks ago, when Kerry was coming off a string of primary victories, Bush trailed him by 6 points.

If independent Ralph Nader is included, he gets 4%, Bush 49% and Kerry 45%.

The poll suggests that Bush campaign ads charging Kerry with a flip-flopping record in the Senate are taking a toll. Before they began, 60% rated Kerry favorably and 26% unfavorably. Now, 53% view him favorably and 36% unfavorably.

"Bush seems to be having some success in selling the idea that Kerry's voting record in the Senate is all over the place," says Maurice Carroll, polling director at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.

Bush held steady at 57% favorable, 41% unfavorable.

The good news for Bush is that he has not taken a devastating hit from testimony by his former counterterrorism chief, Richard Clarke, at hearings last week that Bush did not do enough to respond to the threat of terrorism by al-Qaeda before Sept. 11. But approval of his leadership in the war on terror is down to 58%, the lowest level of his presidency.

Americans are split 49%-49% on whether the administration paid enough attention to the al-Qaeda threat because it was too concerned about Saddam Hussein.

Overall, 56% say it was worth going to war in Iraq, little change from the 55% who said that in early March. However, only 50% see Iraq as part of the war on terrorism, down from 57% last August.

However, when poll respondents were asked whether they trusted Bush or Kerry more to make a decision about sending troops to war, Bush came out ahead, 52%-41%. In late, February, people trusted Kerry more, 50%-45%.

Mark Mellman, pollster for the Kerry campaign, says repeated charges that Bush has not performed well in the war on terror are eroding public confidence in his ability to carry the fight.

"A lot of questions have been raised about his core issue, the war on terror," he says.

But Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist, says Democrats might be making a mistake by focusing on terrorism.

"By highlighting the war on terror, they push the economy and other domestic issues that are Democratic strengths into the background," he says.









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