US: President Bush is now more unpopular than at any time since he became president, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll published yesterday. Just 38 per cent of Americans approve of the way Mr Bush is doing his job, down three percentage points since last month, while 60 per cent think he is doing a bad job.
The Republican-led Congress is even more unpopular than the president, with an approval rating of only 35 per cent. Most registered voters - 55 per cent - say they will vote for Democratic candidates in November's mid-term elections, when one-third of the senate and the entire House of Representatives face re-election.
This represents the largest share of the electorate supporting the Democrats in this poll since the middle of the 1980s.
Americans say they trust Democrats more than Republicans on Iraq, the economy, healthcare, immigration and tackling corruption. Democrats even have a slight edge on dealing with terrorism, with 46 per cent saying they would do a better job than Republicans and 45 per cent believing the opposite.
Half of the public now disapproves of the way Mr Bush is dealing with terrorism, an issue that has long been his strongest in terms of popular support. The president's unpopularity appears to be linked to rising fuel costs and the deepening crisis in Iraq.
Late last year, Mr Bush experienced a brief resurgence of support as Iraq held elections, persuading many Americans that the occupation was entering happier times.Recently, as the insurgency shows no sign of weakening and Iraqi ethnic groups turn on one another, Americans have turned against the president.
Most worrying for the White House is the growing proportion of Americans who "strongly disapprove" of the way Mr Bush is doing his job - 47 per cent, compared to just 20 per cent who "strongly approve".
At the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, no more than 33 per cent of Americans strongly disapproved of president Bill Clinton.
Despite the president's unpopularity, only one in three Americans approves of proposals to impeach him and remove him from office.
On immigration, 63 per cent approve of a proposal to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the US and apply for citizenship, while only 20 per cent back an alternative plan which would make illegal immigration a felony and offer no temporary worker programme.