The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll was taken before the deal was reached on the nuclear option, but since Bush is unlikely to get any credit for the compromise — if anything, he tried to undermine the negotiations — the surprisingly bad poll numbers remain noteworthy.
President Bush’s job approval rating dropped to near its lowest point and Congress received poor marks as well in a national poll released Monday.
Forty-six percent of 1,006 adults polled over the weekend said they approved of the overall job Bush is doing, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.
Over the past year, Bush’s rating has hovered near 50 percent, with a low of 45 percent in March and a high of 57 percent just after his second inauguration and the State of the Union in February.
The 46 percent figure is down about 4 percentage points since a poll taken at the beginning of May.
There is literally no good news for Bush in this poll. Not only do Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy (46-50), Iraq (40-56), and Social Security (33-59), but in each case, support has dropped over the last month and has reached an “all-time low.”
Consider this another morale booster.