U.S. & World

WASHINGTON (AP) ― There is only sparse public support for President Bush's plan for a $700 billion federal rescue of the battered financial industry, and strong bipartisan doubts it would resolve a crisis that has bloodied some of the country's biggest investment companies and roiled the markets, a poll showed on Friday.

Despite Bush's pleas that economic calamity looms unless Congress quickly enacts his proposal, just 30 percent back his package, according to an Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll conducted Thursday night. Another 45 percent oppose it while the rest say they don't know.

The poll was released as administration officials and congressional leaders resumed efforts to strike an agreement that has eluded them through nearly a week of bargaining and partisan tensions. Top lawmakers said Thursday they believed they had reached a deal, only to see an evening White House meeting aimed at blessing the pact crumble into an embarrassing failure after a rebellion by House Republicans.

Underscoring the political risks facing legislators, the poll showed that among members of the public, four in 10 Republicans oppose Bush's plan and about the same number support it. Democrats are against it 46 percent to 28 percent.

While 57 percent said they think the bailout is needed to head off a deep recession, only 35 percent said they think the plan would work. Just over half of Republicans and seven in 10 Democrats were dubious it would end the problems.

Bush, whose popularity has approached historic lows for many months, received dismal scores in the poll for his performance during the financial crisis. Just 23 percent said they approve of how he's done, including only 6 percent approving strongly.

Only four in 10 Republicans, and far fewer Democrats, gave him a positive rating.

The public is evenly divided over whether they most trust Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama or Republican nominee John McCain to handle the financial emergency, with about a third preferring each.

Presidential politics played a major role in the crisis after McCain, who has lost ground in recent polls, said he would suspend his campaign and might even skip Friday's debate against Obama to focus on the economic talks. The two rivals attended Thursday's White House meeting.

The poll showed people wanted McCain to attend the presidential debate, the first of the general election, by 60 percent to 22 percent. The Arizona senator reversed himself Friday and said he would participate.

In recent days, different polls have yielded conflicting readings of the public's stance on the financial meltdown.

A USA Today-Gallup Poll conducted Wednesday found nearly eight in 10 favoring congressional passage of Bush's plan or something like it. A Pew Research Center survey found 57 percent favoring the government "investing" billions to help the markets, while an ABC News-Washington Post poll found people split over government actions.

The AP-Knowledge Networks poll was conducted Sept. 25 and involved online interviews with 671 adults. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Included were interviews with 338 Democrats and 271 Republicans. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 5.4 points for Democrats, 6 points for Republicans.

The poll was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it for free.

Polls conducted on one night can be less reliable than surveys conducted over several nights because they only include the views of people available that particular evening.

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