Disaster Preparedness and Relief (p. 2)

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Sept. 8-11, 2005. N=1,201 adults nationwide, including, with an oversample, 271 blacks. MoE ± 3 for all respondents, ± 6 for black respondents. Fieldwork by TNS Intersearch.

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"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation caused by Hurricane Katrina?"

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9/8-11/05

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"How would you rate the federal government's overall response to the situation caused by Hurricane Katrina: excellent, good, not so good or poor?"
9/2/05 wording: "How would you rate the federal government's overall response to the situation caused by the hurricane and flooding: excellent, good, not so good or poor?"

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9/8-11/05

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"Thinking about how the federal government has handled specific issues -- How would you rate the federal government's performance on [see below]: excellent, good, not so good or poor?"

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"Delivering food, water and medical help"

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"Recovering and identifying those who lost their lives"

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"Dealing with the oil supply and rising gasoline prices"

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"Evacuating and resettling people who've lost their homes"

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"Clearing and repairing the hurricane and flood damage"

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"Do you think the Bush Administration does or does not have a clear plan for dealing with the hurricane situation?"

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9/8-11/05

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"How much blame, if any, do you think Bush should get for problems in the federal response to the situation: a great deal, a good amount, only some or none?"

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9/8-11/05

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"Do you think the situation shows serious problems in the federal government's emergency preparedness overall, or do you think this was a special case?"

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9/8-11/05

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"How would you rate the overall response of state and local governments to the situation caused by Hurricane Katrina: excellent, good, not so good or poor?"

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9/8-11/05

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"How much blame, if any, do you think state and local officials should get for problems in the response to the situation: a great deal, a good amount, only some or none?"

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9/8-11/05

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"Please tell me if each of the following does or does not describe your own personal feelings about the federal government's response to the hurricane situation. . . . "

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"Angry"

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"What do you think was a bigger problem -- that some people could have evacuated before the hurricane hit, but failed to take the warnings seriously; or that some people wanted to evacuate before the hurricane hit but didn't have transportation, and the government didn't provide it?" Options rotated

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9/8-11/05

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"Overall, do you think most of the criticism of the federal government's response to the hurricane has been fair, or unfair?"

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9/8-11/05

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"Do you think the Bush Administration is willing to take responsibility for problems in the hurricane response, or is trying to avoid responsibility for those problems?" Options rotated

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9/8-11/05

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"Do you think Democrats who criticize the way the Bush Administration has handled the hurricane response mainly want to find out what went wrong, or mainly want to use the issue for political advantage?" Options rotated

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9/8-11/05

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"The Republican leaders of Congress have called for a full-scale congressional investigation of the government's hurricane preparedness and response effort. Apart from this investigation, would you support or oppose an investigation by an independent commission like the one that investigated the 9/11 attacks?"

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9/8-11/05

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"Just your best guess, do you think the congressional investigation will stay focused on the facts, or get bogged down in partisan politics?" Options rotated

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9/8-11/05

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"The hurricane relief effort may cost well over 100 billion dollars. How do you think the government should pay for this -- by cutting spending on other programs, increasing the federal budget deficit, raising taxes, or what?" Options rotated

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"Some federal lawmakers have proposed 70 billion dollars in tax cuts over the next five years. Do you think those tax cuts should go forward as proposed, or do you think they should be put off for the time being?" Options rotated

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"Have you personally made a charitable contribution for hurricane relief, are you considering doing so, or is that not something you are considering at this time?"

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"As you may know, New Orleans was a poor city with a large African-American population. Do you think it would have received better flood protection and emergency preparedness resources if it had been a wealthier city with more whites, or do you think race and poverty did not affect its hurricane protection and emergency planning?"

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ALL

  Whites

  Blacks

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"Do you think the federal government would have responded more quickly to rescue people trapped by floodwaters if more of them had been wealthier and white rather than poorer and black, or do you think race and poverty did not affect the speed of the rescue effort?"

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ALL

  Whites

  Blacks

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"Overall, do you think problems with the hurricane relief effort are or are not an indication of racial inequality in this country?"

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ALL

  Whites

  Blacks

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"Overall, do you think Bush personally cares or does not care about the problems facing black people in this country?"

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ALL

  Whites

  Blacks

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"How confident are you that the federal government has put in place adequate controls to avoid waste and fraud in the use of federal money in the hurricane relief effort? Are you very confident, somewhat confident, not so confident or not confident at all?"

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9/8-11/05

CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. Sept. 8-11, 2005. Nationwide.

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"How closely have you been following the news about Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding in the city of New Orleans: very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all?" N=1,005 adults, MoE ± 3

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9/8-11/05

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"Now thinking about what happened immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit and NOT what has happened in the past few days, how would you rate the way [see below] initially responded to the hurricane -- as very good, good, poor, or very poor?" Form A (N=533, MoE ± 5)

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"George W. Bush"

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"FEMA and other federal government agencies responsible for handling emergencies"

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"State and local officials in Louisiana"

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"The residents of New Orleans"

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9/8-11/05

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"Now thinking about what has happened in the past few days in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and NOT what happened immediately after it hit, how would you rate the way [see below] has responded to the hurricane in the past few days -- as very good, good, poor, or very poor?" Form B (N=472, MoE ± 5)

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"George W. Bush"

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9/8-11/05

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"FEMA and other federal government agencies responsible for handling emergencies"

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9/8-11/05

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"State and local officials in Louisiana"

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9/8-11/05

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"The residents of New Orleans"

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9/8-11/05

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"Which comes closer to your view about the government agencies in New Orleans responsible for dealing with natural disasters? They should have been better prepared to deal with the hurricane. OR, There was no way for them to adequately prepare for a hurricane that strong." Options rotated. N=1,005 adults, MoE ± 3.

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9/8-11/05

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"Who do you think deserves the most blame for the fact that many New Orleans residents were trapped in the city after it flooded: the mayor of New Orleans, the residents themselves, or the Bush Administration -- or does no one deserve any blame?" Options rotated. N=1,005 adults, MoE ± 3.

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9/8-11/05