Powell gets top marks among political leaders in poll

How well are members of the Bush administration and Congress doing their jobs? According to the latest Harris poll, the public gives top marks to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Eighty-four percent of respondents gave Powell a positive job approval rating. President Bush was ranked second at 79 percent.

He was followed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (76 percent), Attorney General John Ashcroft (65 percent), Republicans in Congress (58 percent), Vice President Dick Cheney (55 percent), Democrats in Congress (51 percent), Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (45 percent) and Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert (41 percent).

President Bush's approval ratings have remained high since Sept. 11, and the latest Public Opinion Strategies (R) poll asked respondents who had given the President a positive rating why they did so.

The plurality--44 percent--said they gave Bush a positive rating because of his "general personal strength and sense of leadership since Sept. 11."

Thirty-four percent said it was "his response to the events of Sept. 11 and the direction of the war in Afghanistan." Six percent credited the fact that his policies have resulted in no new terrorist attacks, and 6 percent said the reason was the Bush administration's response to the economic downturn.