US President George W. Bush's public approval ratings have sunk to new lows five months before the November election, according to an opinion poll published in the Washington Post.
Fifty per cent of Americans surveyed disapproved of the job Mr Bush was doing overall, with 47 per cent approving his performance - the lowest overall figure recorded by Washington Post-ABC News polls since the Republican president took office.
Four of every 10 Americans surveyed gave Mr Bush positive marks for his handling of Iraq, the lowest since the start of the war there in March last year, according to the poll.
The Washington Postsaid the president's overall approval rating was 51 per cent last month. Nearly all of the decline is due to a drop of seven percentage points among Republicans, according to the poll.
It found the president in a dead heat with Democratic candidate Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in the presidential race.
Forty-six per cent of registered voters said they would vote for Mr Bush if the election were held today; 46 per cent said they would support Mr Kerry and 4 per cent said they would back independent Mr Ralph Nader, the poll said.
Without Mr Nader, Mr Kerry led Mr Bush 49 per cent to 47 per cent, according to the survey.
The survey questioned 1,005 randomly selected adults between May 20 and 23 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Sixty-five per cent said they thought the United States was bogged down in Iraq, 57 per cent said the United States is not making significant progress in establishing a democratic government there and 58 per cent said the president does not have a clear plan for Iraq, the poll found.
Mr Bush made a half-hour televised speech on last night to outline his plans to hand over power in Iraq and to convince Americans he has a workable plan for the Middle Eastern country.