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Survey Reports
September 12, 2005
Four-in-ten Question Rebuilding New Orleans in Present Location
Questionnaire
PEW RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE & THE PRESS
MID-SEPTEMBER 2005 POLITICAL SURVEY
FINAL TOPLINE
September 8-11, 2005
N=1,523
Q.1 Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president? [IF DK
ENTER AS DK. IF DEPENDS PROBE ONCE WITH: Overall do you approve or disapprove of the
way George W. Bush is handling his job as president? [IF STILL DEPENDS ENTER AS DK]
Dis- Don't
Approve approve know
September 8-12, 2005 40 52 8=100
September 6-7, 2005 40 52 8=100
July, 2005 47 46 7=100
June, 2005 42 49 9=100
May, 2005 43 50 7=100
Late March, 2005 49 46 5=100
Mid-March, 2005 45 46 9=100
February, 2005 46 47 7=100
January, 2005 50 43 7=100
2004
December, 2004 48 44 8=100
Mid-October, 2004 44 48 8=100
August, 2004 46 45 9=100
July, 2004 46 46 8=100
June, 2004 48 43 9=100
May, 2004 44 48 8=100
Late April, 2004 48 43 9=100
Early April, 2004 43 47 10=100
Late March, 2004 47 44 9=100
Mid-March, 2004 46 47 7=100
February, 2004 48 44 8=100
Mid-January, 2004 56 34 10=100
Early January, 2004 58 35 7=100
2003
December, 2003 57 34 9=100
November, 2003 50 40 10=100
October, 2003 50 42 8=100
September, 2003 55 36 9=100
Mid-August, 2003 56 32 12=100
Early August, 2003 53 37 10=100
Mid-July, 2003 58 32 10=100
Early July, 2003 60 29 11=100
June, 2003 62 27 11=100
May, 2003 65 27 8=100
April 10-16, 2003 72 22 6=100
April 9, 2003 74 20 6=100
April 2-7, 2003 69 25 6=100
March 28-April 1, 2003 71 23 6=100
March 25-27, 2003 70 24 6=100
March 20-24, 2003 67 26 7=100
March 13-16, 2003 55 34 11=100
February, 2003 54 36 10=100
January, 2003 58 32 10=100
2002
December, 2002 61 28 11=100
Late October, 2002 59 29 12=100
Early October, 2002 61 30 9=100
Mid-September, 2002 67 22 11=100
Early September, 2002 63 26 11=100
Late August, 2002 60 27 13=100
August, 2002 67 21 12=100
Late July, 2002 65 25 10=100
July, 2002 67 21 12=100
June, 2002 70 20 10=100
April, 2002 69 18 13=100
Early April, 2002 74 16 10=100
February, 2002 78 13 9=100
January, 2002 80 11 9=100
2001
Mid-November, 2001 84 9 7=100
Early October, 2001 84 8 8=100
Late September, 2001 86 7 7=100
Mid-September, 2001 80 9 11=100
Early September, 2001 51 34 15=100
August, 2001 50 32 18=100
July, 2001 51 32 17=100
June, 2001 50 33 17=100
May, 2001 53 32 15=100
April, 2001 56 27 17=100
March, 2001 55 25 20=100
February, 2001 53 21 26=100
QUESTIONS 2-29 HELD FOR FUTURE RELEASE
On a different subject
Q.30 In making his appointments to the Supreme Court, should President Bush nominate people who will make
the court more liberal, people who will make it more conservative, or people who will keep the court about
the same as it is now?
Late Clinton
July* June March Gallup
2005 2005 2005 March 1993
24 More liberal 24 28 24 29
30 More conservative 27 29 28 29
39 About the same as it is now 40 35 41 38
7 Don't know/Refused 9 8 7 4
100 100 100 100 100
* In July 2005 and earlier the question was worded “In making his next appointment to the Supreme Court, should
President Bush choose someone who will make the court more liberal, someone who will make it more conservative,
or someone who will keep the court about the same as it is now?
ASK FORM 1 ONLY [N=758]:
Q.31F1 How important are the president's choices of the next Supreme Court justices to you personally? [READ]
Late
July* June March
2005 2005 2005
48 Very important 47 47 38
34 Somewhat important 30 29 36
9 Not too important 14 14 15
7 Not at all important 8 8 8
2 Don't know/Refused (VOL.) 1 2 3
100 100 100 100
* In July 2005 the question was worded “How important is the President’s choice of the next Supreme Court Justice
to you personally?”
ASK FORM 2 ONLY [N=765]:
Q.32F2 How important is the president's choice of the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to you personally?
[READ]
46 Very important
35 Somewhat important
9 Not too important
8 Not at all important
2 [VOL. DO NOT READ] Don't know/Refused
100
NO QUESTION 33
ASK ALL:
Q.34 Do you think the U.S. Senate should or should not confirm John Roberts as the next Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court?
Early Sept
2005
46 Should 35
21 Should not 19
33 Don't know/Refused 46
100 100
Thinking now about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath...
Q.35 In general, how would you rate the job the press has done in covering the impact of Hurricane Katrina on
New Orleans and the Gulf Coast?
Early Sept Terrorist Attacks
2005 Mid-Sept 2001
26 Excellent 28 56
37 Good 37 33
18 Only fair 18 6
18 Poor 15 3
1 Don't know/Refused 2 2
100 100 100
Q.36 Do you think news organizations are giving too much, too little, or the right amount of coverage to the
impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast?
Terrorist Attacks
Early Sept Early Oct
2005 2001
23 Too much coverage 21 32
14 Too little coverage 13 2
61 Right amount of coverage 62 63
2 Don't know/Refused 4 3
100 100 100
ROTATE Q.37 Q.38
Q.37 How would you rate the job state and local governments in Louisiana and Mississippi have been doing
responding to Hurricane Katrina? [READ]
Early Sept
2005
7 Excellent 9
27 Good 32
31 Only fair 29
29 Poor 22
6 Don't know/Refused [VOL] 8
100 100
Q.38 How would you rate the job the federal government has been doing responding to Hurricane Katrina?
[READ]
Early Sept
2005
8 Excellent 8
29 Good 30
30 Only fair 29
31 Poor 29
2 Don't know/Refused [VOL] 4
100 100
Q.39 Do you think the federal government should help to pay for rebuilding New Orleans, or is it too risky to
rebuild the city in its present location?
51 Federal government should help pay
41 Too risky
8 Don't know/Refused (VOL.)
100
QUESTIONS 40-55 HELD FOR FUTURE RELEASE
Q.56 Do you believe that the US has enough military forces to fight effectively in Iraq and still respond to
domestic crises such as Hurricane Katrina, or don't you think so?
47 Yes
48 No
5 Don't know/Refused
100
ASK ALL:
PARTY In politics TODAY, do you consider yourself a Republican, Democrat, or Independent?
(VOL) (VOL)
No Other
Trend Republican Democrat Independent Preference Party Don't know
September 8-12, 2005 31 32 33 3 * 1=100
September 6-7, 2005 27 33 33 4 * 3=100
July, 2005 32 32 28 5 * 3=100
June, 2005 30 32 32 4 * 2=100
May, 2005 30 34 29 4 * 3=100
March, 2005 30 34 29 4 * 3=100
February, 2005 31 32 30 4 1 2=100
January, 2005 32 33 30 4 * 1=100
December, 2004 31 34 30 3 * 2=100
Mid-October, 2004 30 33 30 4 * 3=100
Late September, 2004 29 30 31 6 * 4=100
Mid-September, 2004 29 31 30 5 * 5=100
Early September, 2004 30 33 31 3 * 3=100
August, 2004 31 35 27 4 * 3=100
July, 2004 29 33 32 3 * 3=100
June, 2004 30 34 31 3 * 2=100
May, 2004 29 35 26 5 1 4=100
Early May, 2004 27 34 31 4 1 3=100
Late April, 2004 30 31 31 5 * 3=100
Early April, 2004 31 32 28 4 1 4=100
Late March, 2004 30 34 28 4 * 4=100
March, 2004 27 35 32 4 * 2=100
Mid-February, 2004 30 33 30 4 * 3=100
Early February, 2004 31 33 31 3 * 2=100
Mid-January, 2004 31 31 31 4 1 2=100
Early January, 2004 29 34 31 4 * 2=100
Yearly Totals
2004 30 33 30 4 * 3=100
2003 30 31 31 5 * 3=100
2002 30 31 30 5 1 3=100
2001 29 34 29 5 * 3=100
2001 Post-Sept 11 31 32 28 5 1 3=100
2001 Pre-Sept 11 28 35 30 5 * 2=100
2000 28 33 29 6 * 4=100
1999 27 33 34 4 * 2=100
1998 28 33 32 5 * 2=100
1997 28 33 32 4 1 2=100
No Preference/
Other/DK
1996 29 33 33 5=100
1995 32 30 34 4=100
1994 30 32 34 4=100
1993 27 34 34 5=100
1992 28 33 35 4=100
1991 31 32 33 4=100
1990 31 33 30 6=100
Independent/
No Pref/Oth/DK
1989 33 33 34=100
1987 26 35 39=100
(All party identification trends based on general public.)
IF ANSWERED 3, 4, 5 OR 9 IN PARTY, ASK:
PARTYLN As of today do you lean more to the Republican Party or more to the Democratic Party?
Refused
Republican Democrat to lean
September 8-12, 2005 10 18 9=37%
September 6-7, 2005 10 15 15=40%
July, 2005 9 15 11=35%
June, 2005 10 16 12=38%
Mid-May, 2005 9 13 14=36%
Late March, 2005 13 17 9=39%
December, 2004 14 12 9=35%
August, 2003 12 16 14=42%
August, 2002 12 13 13=38%
September, 2000 11 13 15=39%
Late September, 1999 14 15 16=45%
August, 1999 15 15 12=42%
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