WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- Republican respondents to a UPI-Zogby International poll are showing less support for U.S. President George Bush's handling of the war in Iraq.
While self-described Democratic poll participants have consistently been very negative on Bush's Iraq performance, the president had been retaining the support of his party members. However, as the war drags into its fifth year and the death toll of U.S. service personnel moved past 3,400, GOP support is lagging.
A Zogby interactive poll conducted May 16-18 showed that a total of 53.7 percent of Republican participants gave Bush either an "excellent (12 percent) or good (41.7 percent) rating. The total "positive" grade among Republicans for Bush in April was 57.3 percent and 64 percent in March.
In the overall sample of 5,141 U.S. residents, 57.1 percent gave Bush a "poor" rating and 16.9 percent said the president was "fair" on Iraq. Some 5.9 percent said Bush's Iraq performance was "excellent" and 19.7 percent "good."
More than one-third -- 34.5 percent of the entire sample -- said the United States should withdraw immediately from Iraq and 59.1 percent said such a withdrawal should come after certain goals were met.
There is a 1.4-percentage-point margin of error in the poll.
