Poll rates BP oil spill response worse than Katrina

By more than a 2-to-1 margin, Americans support the pursuit of criminal charges in the nation's worst oil spill, with increasing numbers calling it a major environmental disaster. Eight in 10 criticize the way BP's handled it – and more people give the federal government's response a negative rating than did the response to Hurricane Katrina. A month and a half after the spill began, 69% in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll rate the federal response negatively. That compares with a 62% negative rating for the response to Katrina two weeks after the August 2005 hurricane. There's partisanship in views of the federal response, with Democrats less critical of the Democratic-led government. Nonetheless, even among Democrats, 56% rate the federal response negatively. That rises to 74% of independents and 81% of Republicans.