On the wrong side of 30

Breaking a barrier of sorts, a new poll puts the president's approval rating at 29 percent.

Published May 12, 2006 12:25PM (EDT)

It's just another poll showing just another all-time low -- unless you're inclined to attach significance to round numbers and the breaking through thereof: The new Harris Interactive poll is the first to put George W. Bush's approval rating at below 30 percent.

Only 29 percent of the poll's respondents give Bush positive marks for his performance in office, and the poll was taken before USA Today reported that the NSA has been trying to collect information on every telephone call made in America. If current polling trends continue, most other major polls should have Bush in the 20s within a week or so.

One bit of good news for the president, if not for his party: Only 18 percent of the Harris poll's respondents approve of the job the Republican-controlled Congress is doing.


By Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog.

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