President Bush’s approval rating has dropped in Wisconsin since the end of major conflict in Iraq, according to a recent statewide poll.

The poll found that a majority of Wisconsin residents still believe Bush is doing satisfactory work. However, his performance rating is no longer in the highly favorable range he held before the war began this spring.

“It shows the state’s evolving attitudes toward the situation,” Director of the University of Wisconsin Survey Center G. Donald Ferree, Jr., said. “It’s less positive now than six months ago.”

Ferree conducted the poll last month in conjunction with the Capital Times and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, surveying 511 state residents from Aug. 18-27.

Ferree concluded that 52 percent of those surveyed said Bush was doing an excellent or good job, compared to 47 percent who rated him fair or poor. The ratings prove to be a substantial decline from the peak of the war in April when 69 percent gave him top marks.

Ferree said that although Bush’s approval has slackened and pessimism about Iraq is building up, public opinion of the ideals and goals of the war remain high.

“People still believe the war in Iraq was necessary,” Ferree said. “What we see though is an increase in disease with the way things are going.”

Ferree said the problem now is that people are becoming skeptical of the fact that weapons of mass destruction are nowhere to be found. Wisconsinites think either they do not exist or the administration did not tell the truth, he said.

There is a major potential for this current attitude to affect the 2004 presidential election, Ferree said.

State legislators moved the primary up to Feb. 17, 2004 making Wisconsin the only state holding election on this date and one of the earliest.

“Wisconsin could very well be on the showdown in determining who the future president will be,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Seth Boffeli said. “We are pivotal in deciding the election.”

Boeffeli said the decrease in support for Bush’s overall performance, especially in Iraq, leaves Bush vulnerable to domestic issues.

“The popular opinion about the situation in Iraq does not override the negative opinion

about the poor state of the economy,” Boffeli said. “[Bush’s] Achilles’ heel is the economy. The millions of jobs lost, including the 51,000 in Wisconsin, are not coming back.”

This is a lesson in history, Boefelli said. Former President George Bush, Sr., followed the same path after the Gulf War in 1991 when his approval rating was 80 percent. However, he lost re-election and left the Presidency with a rating of 37 percent, which many believe to be because of attacks made by opponents regarding issues such as the poor economy.

However, Boffeli added that it is still too early to determine what will happen in next year’s presidential election.

Chong said the election will ultimately be decided by how people are affected by all political policies — foreign and domestic.

University of Wisconsin junior Jenny Chong agreed. She said the ratings reflect people’s growing awareness of the situation in Iraq and that no weapons of mass destruction have been found.

“Personally, I think people would wise up and see Bush is bad,” Chong said. “But I think he has a really good chance of winning the election because he’s good at making it seem that things are going well.”

The Republican Party of Wisconsin said they are not worried about getting Bush re-elected. The party’s Communications Director Chris Lato called the poll results “good solid numbers.”

“Clearly, folks think he did the right thing,” Lato said. “At the end of the day, Wisconsin will support us and re-elect President Bush.”