George W. Bush loses the support of his nation

If the war in Iraq continues in 2008, it may become the key political factor of the presidential election

The US nation's approval of George W. Bush's political course has reached the all time low level during the president's stay in the office, Associated Press wrote with reference to a recent poll, which AP conducted with Ipsos Reid sociological agency. The research revealed that less than a half of American citizens were certain in the human honesty in their leader.

The majority of the polled Americans believe, however, that Bush is a strong leader, which the USA needs. On the other hand, an increasing number of US citizens think that Bush's self-confidence is based on his overestimated self-rating rather than on the adequate vision of political and economic matters.

About 45 percent of American nationals approved Bush's policy in Iraq during the first six months of 2005. The index dropped to 38 percent nowadays, which marked the lowest point of people's support that Bush has ever enjoyed. George W. Bush is losing the support of his citizens residing in the central and the western part of the USA.

In the meantime, US troops suffer unexampled losses in Iraq. Fourteen US servicemen were killed on Wednesday in the valley of the Euphrates River. It became the largest loss, which US forces have suffered in Iraq as a result of one battle only since the start of the Iraqi campaign in March of 2003.

Retired Rep. William Anderson believes that George W. Bush's intentions are correct, although the president has chosen a wrong way to execute them. According to Mr. Anderson, Iraq is only one of the problems, which receives extensive debate with a variety of contradictory viewpoints and claims. William Anderson does not exclude that the USA may have to deal with another Vietnam as a result of the ongoing discussion.

The concerns about the future of the US military contingent in Iraq may become the central subject during 2006 Congress elections. If the war in Iraq continues in 2008, it may become the key political factor of the presidential election too, an AP observer wrote.

About 42 percent of US citizens currently approve their president's actions. They are opposed with 55 percent of Americans, who do not find Bush's international policies appropriate. Fifty-three percent of Americans trusted the US president's honesty in January, whereas 45 percent stuck to the opposite opinion. More than a half of the American nation distrusts their leader at present moment.

As a rule, disappointment struck middle-aged and female individuals – the people who formed the stronghold of George W. Bush during the presidential election of 2004. If the tendency preserves, Bush will lose the support of US congressmen in particular and of the US nation in general.

Bruce Buchanan, a scientist of politics from the University of Texas, believes that people's trust is an extremely important factor for the American President. A lot of American citizens trusted Bush for quite a long period of time in spite of the fact that they disagreed with certain points of his political course. It brings up the idea that the ongoing loss of people's support testifies to the fact that people consider US-led policies in Iraq incompetent.

The number of Americans thinking that George W. Bush suffers from overestimated self-rating increased from 49 percent in January to 56.6 percent in July of the current year. Six of ten respondents are sure that Bush is taking their nation in a wrong direction despite the growing economic indexes, which are traditionally believed to be the fundamental principle that US citizens use to form opinions about their leader's policies.

Stanislav Varykhanov