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Bush Schiavo probe order annoys voters

But a poll shows more still approve than disapprove of the governor overall.

TALLAHASSEE - By nearly a 2-1 ratio, Florida voters say they disagree with Gov. Jeb Bush's order to investigate whether Terri Schiavo's husband delayed calling 911 when his wife collapsed in 1990. They see his actions as motivated by politics.

However, 49 percent of the 1,248 Florida voters surveyed by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute approved of Bush's overall job performance as governor, compared with 40 percent who did not.

But more than two-thirds say he shouldn't run for president in 2008, according to the poll released Thursday.

Seventy percent of the respondents, including a majority of Republicans with an opinion, said they do not want to see Bush try to succeed his brother - and the governor has consistently said he has no interest in that race.

He was out of step with most voters polled on the case.

Nearly half, 46 percent, said they agreed strongly and another 12 percent agreed somewhat with the decision to remove the woman's feeding tube, compared with 24 percent who disagreed strongly.

Schiavo, who suffered severe brain damage when her heart temporarily stopped, died March 31 in a hospice in Pinellas Park following an unsuccessful battle by Bush against a court order to have her feeding tube removed. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, said his wife never wanted to be kept alive artificially. He was opposed by his inlaws, Bob and Mary Schindler.

Bush's efforts to have her tube restored were eventually embraced by his brother, President Bush, and members of Congress who made an unsuccessful effort to intervene.

After the results of Schiavo's autopsy showed the woman suffered irreversible brain damage, Bush faxed a letter to Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe requesting an investigation.

Bush said Michael Schiavo testified in a 1992 medical malpractice trial that he found his wife collapsed at 5 a.m. on Feb. 25, 1990, and he said in a 2003 television interview that he found her at about 4:30 a.m. He called 911 at about 5:40 a.m.

"I am aware of no explanation for the delay," Bush said when he made that request.

Polled voters gave the Legislature a 42-40 percent favorable rating for its handling of business during the recent session, much of it dominated by the Schiavo case.

President Bush received an unfavorable rating, with 51 percent saying they did not approve of how he was handling his job compared with 45 percent who supported the second-term president.

Florida voters were opposed, 51 percent to 39 percent, to Bush's push to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in the stock market, although Republicans favored it by nearly 2-1 while Democrats and independents strongly opposed it.

And 13 percent described themselves as "very worried" their home will be damaged by a hurricane this year; 34 percent said they were "somewhat worried."

[Last modified July 1, 2005, 01:23:13]