Sixty-two percent of Americans disapprove of the way President Bush is handling the environment and other domestic issues such as health care, education and energy, and 49 percent favor giving Democrats control of Congress in the next election, according to an AP-Ipsos poll conducted January 3-5, 2006. Only 40 percent of Americans approve of the president’s job performance overall, with 59 percent disapproving.
_{Photo courtesy of Kevin Connors}

Only 35 percent of those surveyed gave President Bush passing marks for his work on the environment and other domestic issues, but his approval ratings were somewhat better for his handling of the economy (39%) and foreign policy (44%).

Americans Favor Democrats for Congress
About a third of the respondents (34%) approve of the job the Republican-led Congress is doing now, but nearly twice as many (63%) disapprove. Forty-nine percent said they would vote for Democrats in the next congressional election, while only 36 percent said they would vote for Republicans.

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be on the ballot in November 2006. To become the majority party and take control, Democrats will have to gain 15 seats.

Thirty-three U.S. Senate seats will be on the ballot: 17 are currently held by Democrats,15 by Republicans, and one by Sen. James Jeffords, a Vermont independent who left the Republican Party in 2001, which briefly gave Democrats control of the Senate. Democrats currently fill 44 Senate seats, and need to win seven more to gain a majority (or six if another Vermont independent, Bernie Sanders, replaces Jeffords).

The Abramoff Factor
The poll results may have been influenced by news of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff‘s guilty plea to charges of tax evasion, fraud and corruption, and his agreement to assist with a federal investigation of members of Congress and other government officials. Still, many voters surveyed seemed to believe that the problems in the Bush Administration and the GOP Congress run deep, and that some kind of political course correction is needed.

"I just don't like the direction our country is going in," Steve Brown, a political independent from Olympia, Wash., told the Associated Press. "I think a balance of power would be beneficial right now."

More Information:

AP Poll: Congressional Democrats Favored -- Forbes.com

Topline Poll Results

President Bush’s Approval Ratings Overall

President Bush’s Approval Ratings on Specific Issues