Powell tops administration in approval ratings

Eighty percent of respondents gave Powell a positive job approval rating. Seventy-four percent said the same of Bush, followed by 67 percent for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, 56 percent for Attorney General John Ashcroft and 55 percent for Vice President Dick Cheney.

On Capitol Hill, congressional Democrats and Republicans received almost identical job approval ratings at 45 percent and 48 percent, respectively. Views of the performance of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., were also split: 39 percent positive and 37 percent negative. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., received a 33 percent/25 percent rating.

Asked to name the two most important issues for the government to address, a 30 percent plurality picked "terrorism," followed by the economy (17 percent), education (11 percent), national security (9 percent) and health care and taxes (7 percent apiece).