According to a CNN/USA Today Gallop poll, President Bush’s approval rating is down to 36 percent, the lowest since he took office in January 2000.

“Bush’s numbers have hovered around 40 percent for the last year or so,” said Matt Streb, NIU assistant professor of political science. “It’s been a difficult year for the president and there isn’t much positive news he can point to.”

The president has dealt with increasing opposition to the war in Iraq, the effects of the administration’s handling of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, the CIA leak scandal, the DeLay-Abramoff conspiracy and the recent port controversy.

But some say the president’s low approval rating could be related to more than just his actions in office.

State Representative Bob Pritchard (R-Hinkley) said media coverage has greatly played into the president’s detractions.

“The media asks the same questions and conveys the same message over and over,” he said. “If you say it enough, eventually the public will believe it.”

In the past, presidents have been ahead or behind the opinion polls, he said.

Perhaps the Bush administration is out of step with popular opinion but that does not necessarily mean his goals are not correct, Pritchard said.

“That’s just the art of leadership,” he said. Any individual leader is going to have situations when people disagree with him or her.

But the president’s low approval rating might not be a negative.

Bush’s ratings could be good given the state of the country right now, said Stephen Slack, vice chair of the DeKalb County Democrats.

People are concerned about the direction the country is headed, and this overlaps with the president’s low approval rating, he said.

Slack agrees that a number of other issues affect Bush’s ratings.

The low approval rating is obviously directly related to the situation in Iraq and very related to the level of scandal in Congress, he said.

People also are uneasy about the health care system and the fact that so many jobs are leaving the country and nobody is doing anything about it, Slack said.

The president’s low approval ratings also could have adverse effects on the upcoming midterm elections.

If things stay the same, then more Democrats could be voted into office, Slack said.

Gina Martino

Sophomore

psychology major

“It honestly does not surprise me that his approval rating is so low, but I don’t necessarily disapprove of him. We didn’t have a better option. A lot of elections are like choosing the lesser of two evils.”

Alan Krzesinski

Senior business management

corporate communications major

“Anytime you make a big decision like committing the country’s military to a war, you’re going to get criticized for it. Nobody expected the war in Iraq to take this long. The longer it takes, the lower [the president’s ratings] will go.”

Jennifer Procter

Junior physical therapy major

“We wouldn’t be in the predicament we are in with Hurricane Katrina and the economy if somebody else was in that office.”

Anne Rock

DeKalb resident

“We often don’t see beneath the surface of what is going on. I like how our president has presented himself and I like the fact he has not fallen apart.”