The latest IPSOS poll on Bush's approval ratings came out early this morning.
OVERALL: Bush's approval on his handling of Iraq reached its lowest level yet in AP-Ipsos polling — 31 percent. That compares with 36 percent in early October...
IRAQ: Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq by self-identified Republicans has decreased from 78 percent in early October to 67 percent this month...
Congress isn't doing any better. Are both parties on a slippery slope, or just the Republicans?
CONGRESS: Some 26 percent of adults approve of the way Congress is handling its job. This is practically unchanged from the late October AP-AOL News poll when it was 25 percent. Approval by Republicans has decreased to 38 percent from 41 percent and Democrats have increased their approval by 6 points to 15 percent. In late October, 57 percent who thought the country was going in the right direction approved of the job done by Congress, now that number has decreased to 39 percent.
The public divisions over the war have left the Iraq Study Group with a difficult job. ''If there's any hope,'' said a Democratic member of the blue-ribbon panel, Leon Panetta, ''it's that our recommendations can help pull the country together -- if Republicans and Democrats can agree on a common strategy.''
