Sampling, data collection and tabulation for this poll were done by TNS Intersearch.

In sharp contrast to Bush's high job approval rating, a new ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll finds barely more than half of Americans, 52 percent, are prepared to say his administration has acted properly in the Enron debacle. A quarter think not, and another quarter are unsure.

Seven in 10 want a full accounting of the Enron collapse, including disclosure by the administration and Congress members alike of all contacts with Enron officials. And 75 percent say they favor a broad federal investigation of the collapse — far more, for example, than the 43 percent who backed a probe into Whitewater in 1994.

But most of the other news in the latest poll is quite good for Bush and the Republican Party. The GOP dominates in public trust to handle the two most pressing issues of the day — the economy (which now tops the public's list) and the campaign against terrorism. And Republicans lead the Democrats in candidate preference in House races, 50 percent to 43 percent among registered voters. That's the largest Republican advantage in more than 20 years of polling by ABCNEWS.

Party Preference in House Races
Republican candidates	Democratic candidates
50 %	43%

Bush's job approval rating is 83 percent, largely on the strength of how he's handled the campaign against terrorism. Sixty-two percent approve of Bush's work on the economy — down 10 points since November, but still a strong number considering the recession. And 61 percent think Bush understands the problems of average Americans — a critical measure that's up sharply from 45 percent last summer.

The economy and terrorism top the public's agenda by wide margins. When they're matched head-to-head, the economy now garners more concern, by 54 percent to 43 percent. But public concerns cover a range of subjects: While 34 percent say the economy should be Bush's main subject when he delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday night, about as many — 31 percent — say it should be domestic issues like health care, Social Security and education. Twenty-one percent say he should talk mainly about the war on terrorism.

Enron

Fifty-eight percent of Americans say they're closely following the Enron story, and just over two-thirds think it signifies broader problems with the way companies report their financial situation. That's enough concern to incite support for a full federal investigation.

At the same time, the collapse has not fueled demand for campaign finance reform, which remains last on the list of public priorities for Bush and Congress to address, right where it was last April.

The Vexing Question of Enron
Support a full investigation	Congress members should disclose all contacts	The Bush administration should disclose all contacts
75%	75%	70%

Enron is a sign of broader problems	The administration has acted properly so far
68%	52%

Shifting Priorities

Enron notwithstanding, the Republicans' fortunes have improved sharply since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, in large part because the public's issue priorities have shifted toward the war against terrorism and national defense, areas where Republicans are hammering the Democrats.

Sixty-three percent of Americans now regard the Republican Party favorably, up 12 points since the summer to its highest point in the last decade. By contrast, 56 percent view the Democrats favorably; it was 60 percent last summer.

Issues flesh out the picture. Overall, the Republicans have a slim edge in trust to handle "the nation's main problems," 44 percent to 40 percent. Last April, it was 47 percent to 40 percent in the Democrats' favor. The Republicans hold a whopping 39-point advantage on handling the war against terrorism, an equally large lead on the related issue of national defense, and a nine-point advantage on "improving the economy."

Republicans also fare relatively well on education — traditionally a Democratic strength, but one on which Bush made strong inroads in the 2000 election. This poll marks the first time the Democrats haven't had the advantage on education in more than 10 years. And despite the return to federal deficits, Republicans also have an edge in public trust to keep the federal budget balanced.

Democrats do retain an advantage on some issues, such as improving health care, helping the elderly pay for prescription drugs and protecting the environment. But their lead on Social Security is down from 17 points in April to 10 points now. And their edge as the party that's more open to the views of political moderates is down from 25 points last June to 11 points today.

In House preferences for November, Republicans and Democrats run pretty evenly among two key swing voter groups, independents and moderates. Republicans have an 11-point advantage among white Catholics, another key swing group. One reason for the Republicans' advantage is that they do a better job holding their base: Ninety-five percent of self-identified Republicans stay loyal to their party, versus 82 percent of Democrats.

There's a gender gap in vote preferences. Men support the Republicans by a fifteen-point margin, while women are evenly split. Younger adults, under 45, go strongly for the Republicans. The two parties are more evenly matched among those 45 and older.

Party Identification

Republicans have pulled even with Democrats in party identification, 32 percent to 32 percent, in ABCNEWS and ABC/Post polls taken after the Sept. 11 attacks. Before the attacks in 2001, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by four percentage points. Still, that's half what it was in the years 1993 through 2000, possibly the result of having a Republican in the White House for the first time in eight years.

The shift looks to come mainly from the "independent" category. From 1993 though 2000, independents averaged 34 percent. It's been down five points, to 29 percent, since the start of 2001.

President Bush

Boosted by the war on terrorism, Bush is going into his State of the Union address with the highest approval rating after one year in office of any post-war president, 83 percent. But he's not entirely invulnerable. That's down nine points since October, and his "strong" approval is down from a peak of 76 percent in October to 56 percent now.

Bush' performance over the last year also gets very high marks when evaluated against expectations. Three-quarters of Americans say he's doing a better job than they expected, up from a meager 39 percent in July.

Bush's approval rests mainly on his response to the Sept. 11 attacks: Almost nine in 10 approve of how he's handling the campaign against terrorism, unchanged over the last few months. And, in an open-ended question, 65 percent cite the war on terrorism and Bush's response to the Sept. 11 attacks as his greatest accomplishment in his first year in office. This dwarfs the next most mentioned item, his personal leadership, at 11 percent.

Bush's approval translates into a huge 2-1 advantage over the Democrats in trust to handle the nation's problems. Sixty-two percent say they trust Bush to do a better job with the main problems the nation faces; only 31 percent pick the Democrats in Congress.

Bush's approval ratings have also bumped up since Sept. 11 in other areas, including education, the economy (despite its downturn), the federal budget (despite the deficit) and Social Security. But in another area, his work on the environment, he hasn't shown much improvement.

Despite his relatively low approval on the environment, support for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska — which Bush is pushing — has increased over the past year. Forty-eight percent support the drilling, up from 38 percent a year ago. The public's now evenly split on the matter

The Economy

While Bush's overall approval rating has been little affected by the recession, he still remains vulnerable to economic discontent. Absent war, nothing moves presidential approval like the economy, as Bush's father demonstrated in the early 1990s. And today, even while 62 percent approve of Bush's handling of the economy, only 31 percent say it's in good shape, down 40 points in the last year.

As noted, Bush's ratings of how he's handling the economy have declined somewhat since November, but he still has cushioning his father didn't: perceived empathy with the difficulties facing average Americans and their hardships. Sixty-one percent now think Bush understands the problems of people like them. In 1992 only 34 percent thought the same of his father, a failing that helped cost him his job.

Bush also is helped by a perception that the recession will be over in the near future. About seven in 10 expect it to end within the next year, while only 27 percent think it will take longer than that.

Taxes and Budget

Americans aren't blaming Bush for the reemergence of deficits; only 41 percent think he bears much of the blame (either a "great deal" or "good amount,") with just 18 percent saying a "great deal."

But the public's solution to the budget deficit is not in line with Bush's thinking. Most Americans, 55 percent, favor reducing the tax cut to keep the budget balanced, up 12 points from early September.

That stems in part from a shift in spending priorities after Sept. 11: In an ABC/Post poll on Sept. 9, 31 percent favored cutting military spending to balance the budget. Now, with a war on, just 15 percent hold that view.

Issue Priorities

With terrorism and the economy leading the public's agenda, domestic issues have decreased in importance. Fewer now give top priority to such issues as education, Social Security, prescription drug benefits for the elderly, the federal budget or the environment. Again that's good news for the Republicans, because the Democrats have traditionally done well on all these issues, except for the budget.

And while Enron has revitalized campaign finance reform in Washington, it hasn't budged it on the public's priority list. Just 14 percent think it should be a top priority for Bush and the Congress. That's unchanged from an ABC/Post poll last April, keeping campaign finance reform last out of 10 issues tested. As noted, when people are asked whether terrorism or the economy is a bigger problem today, most now pick the economy. That's probably a reflection of public perception that the war on terrorism is going well, while the economy's still sluggish.

The War

The public is showing flexibility in assessing the war on terrorism, yet another positive sign for the Bush administration: The number of people who say Osama bin Laden must be killed or captured for the war to be a success has fallen sharply from 64 percent in November and December to 46 percent today.

Two reasons are possible: One, a sense that he's been functionally disabled; and two, an adjustment in goals caused by declining confidence that the United States will get him. While 63 percent still think bin Laden will be captured or killed, that has gradually fallen from its high point of 81 percent on Sept 27. And just 26 percent are "very confident" the United States will get bin Laden.

Support for ousting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, meanwhile, remains high: Seventy-one percent think the United States should take military action against Iraq to force Hussein from power, unchanged from last month.

A large majority, 88 percent, still think the war is going well. But confidence in the ability of the government to prevent further terrorist attacks has dipped a bit to 57 percent, from 63 percent in November. And just 18 percent have a "great deal" of confidence, down from 24 percent.

Finally, on the war, the public still prefers putting non-U.S. citizens who are charged with terrorism on trial in military tribunals: Sixty percent prefer tribunals, 35 percent the regular criminal court system.

More Ratings

Congress is still maintaining its relatively strong approval rating, at 58 percent. Last month it had reached 59 percent, its all-time high in decades of opinion polling.

Much like her husband's job approval rating, Laura Bush's favorable rating is very high, at 81 percent. Senate majority leader Tom Daschle is much less well-known. Thirty-seven percent view him favorably, 31 percent unfavorably, with 32 percent unsure.

Methodology

This ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Jan. 24-27 among a random national sample of 1,507 adults. The results have a 2.5-point error margin. Field work was done by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.

Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our Poll Vault.