Recent survey shows Utahns like Pres. Bush
A survey released last week showed that although other states don’t approve of President George W. Bush lately, Utahns still love him. The survey, performed by SurveyUSA, found Utah to be the only state with an approval rating for Bush above 60 percent, which many find surprising considering the administration’s much-criticized politics involving the Iraq war, the unstable economy and the poor response to Hurricane Katrina. “I’m not surprised,” Mike Lyons, Utah State University political science associate professor, said. “Utahns are very conservative and Republican. I would be surprised if Utahns disapproved [of Bush].”
But do the results of the survey represent Utah State University students?
“Sadly, yes,” Johanna Carling, president of Utah State University’s chapter of College Democrats, said. “The majority of students here don’t care enough to pay attention [to politics].”
Carling said although there are some who do care and who support Bush knowing the facts, most students haven’t taken initiative to find out for themselves. “Watching 30 seconds of CNN is not enough,” she said. Carling urged students to keep up on the news, whether it be online or in a newspaper.
“Utahns do need to be better informed,” Lyons said, “but I don’t attribute Bush’s high approval rating to Utahns being naive. Bush is just conservative and Republican, and so is Utah.”
Utah’s approval rating of Bush dropped in mid-August to 57 percent, but rose a week later after Bush visited Utah and spoke at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention.
-jlheywood@cc.usu.edu